Emergency supplies rushed to ship off Qld

The stranded crew of a coal ship off Queensland's coast have received emergency supplies but still face the prospect of dangerously low food stocks, a union says.

The International Transport Workers' Federation says the 93,000-tonne Five Stars Fujian has been stranded off the Port of Gladstone since July 19, with a crew of underfed and unpaid 20 Chinese nationals, after the ship's owners "vanished".

The crew, who claim they haven't been paid their two dollar an hour wages in more than two months, were supplied with three days worth of food by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority last Friday.

Their desperate plight was only uncovered last Wednesday when the AMSA detained the ship, which is carrying $40 million worth of coal.