***Tanker’s crew stranded since February
(c) 2013 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Ship seized here in May by Taiwan bank over owner’s alleged $82m debt
A CREW of 23 foreign seamen has been stranded for more than six months aboard a massive oil tanker anchored off Marina Bay.
The 22 Indians and a Romanian face low morale and cabin fever after becoming innocent victims when the ship was seized over an alleged US$65 million (S$82 million) debt.
The men were barred by the immigration authorities from setting foot in Singapore except for three hours last week when 11 were allowed to send funds home.
The tanker’s captain Ashish N. Jha, 33, told The Straits Times when he came onshore last week that the crew’s morale is low.
While they are not short of food or water, there are “times where they are depressed because they just want to go home”. “We take turns to cheer one another up,” he added.
They pass their time maintaining the ship, watching TV, listening to the radio and calling home.
“Thankfully the international phone rates from Singapore are not too expensive,” said engineer Infinity K., 33, an Indian national.
He hopes the financial wrangle can be sorted out fast. “My wife is giving birth in November, and I hope to be home when I become a father,” said Mr Infinity.
The Marshall Islands-registered vessel, the Fortune Elephant – longer than three football fields – arrived in February to wait to be hired to ship oil but no job came after three months.
Then in May, a Taiwanese bank, Cathay United Bank, successfully applied to the Singapore Supreme Court for a seizure order over more than US$65 million allegedly owed by the ship’s Taiwanese owner TMT to the bank.
TMT has to pay the bank before the ship will be released, or the bank can sell the ship to recover what it is owed. Such seizures are uncommon. Seven other ships are currently under seizure before Singapore courts as the vessels lie off the coast here.
In June, TMT applied to a US bankruptcy court for protection from creditors so it could continue operations while sorting out its debts.
TMT and its Singapore agent NOS Ship Agency could not be reached for comment. But it is understood that the owner and bank are negotiating through their lawyers for the release of the ship.
With help from the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU), the crew got their June salary of US$76,000 in cash. The bank has paid the crew more than US$313,000 in wages by wire.
SMOU executive secretary Mary Liew told The Straits Times the union is linked to the International Transport Workers‘ Federation (ITF) that helps stranded seafarers.
“We’ll extend our help to any stranded seafarers in Singapore waters. Likewise if our local seafarers in international waters are in dire conditions or circumstances, we can also count on ITF and its affiliates to help our members when we can’t reach them.”
FROM INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT JOURNAL:
***ITF urges action over container weights
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has called on governments and industry bodies to back a proposed amendment that will tackle the dangers posed by unweighed or misdeclared shipping containers. The amendment – to the existing Safety of Life at Sea Convention (Solas) – was tabled at a meeting of the IMO (International Maritime Organization) sub–committee on dangerous goods, solid cargo and containers that began on 16 September. The meeting will decide if the weighing of packed shipping containers will be made mandatory.
The ITF has been lobbying for nearly a decade for a compulsory international system of container weighing to be introduced in ports. Currently there is a reliance on self regulation by shippers.
www.itfglobal.org
FROM TRADEWINDS
TMT lives to fight on
TMT looks set to live another day after a US court ruled in its favour in the latest twist in its ongoing bankruptcy case.
TMT chief executive Nobu Su
In a statement Wednesday TMT said an appellate court in Houston, Texas, has rejected the banks’ attempt to revisit the bankruptcy court’s ruling that TMT filed its chapter 11 cases in good faith.
The Taiwanese shipowner described the decision as “an important development” in the long-running battle between TMT and the banks, who have been trying to end TMT’s chapter 11 case to stop the firm trading.
“It is sad that some banks in Taiwan are still obsessed with shutting down TMT rather than working with the company to see how its ships can be got back as profitable trading entities on the high seas,” a TMT spokesman said.
“The Royal Bank of Scotland has indicated willingness to discuss its dispute with TMT dating from the 2008 global era of market and price manipulation.”
“It would be helpful if Taiwanese banks that appear to want to see TMT closed down paused for a while and sought constructive agreement with TMT to find win-win solutions so that TMT can keep trading and its creditors are assured of cash flow.”
FROM THE ACTIVIST (RMTU):
***ITF URGES ACTION OVER CONTAINER WEIGHTS
The ITF is calling on governments and
industry bodies to back a proposed
amendment that will tackle the dangers
posed by unweighed or mis-declared
shipping containers. The amendment – to
the existing Safety of Life at Sea Convention
(SOLAS) – will be tabled at a meeting of the
IMO (International Maritime Organization)
sub–committee on dangerous goods, solid
cargoes and containers beginning today,
Monday 16 September. The meeting will
decide if the weighing of packed shipping
containers will be made mandatory.
The ITF (International Transport Workers’
Federation) has been lobbying for nearly a
decade for a compulsory international
system of container weighing to be
introduced in ports. Currently there is a
reliance on self-regulation by shippers.
The ITF proposal stipulates that there should
be an international law requiring mandatory
weighing of loaded containers, a process in
place to address misdeclaration of container
weights, and that ships’ masters should be
able to refuse to load un- or misdeclared
containers.
The ITF amendment is supported by the
United States and Danish governments as
well as industry bodies including The World
Shipping Council (WSC), and The Baltic and
International Maritime Council (BIMCO).
The ITF is urging other country and
industry representatives to demonstrate
their commitment to worker and public
safety standards by backing the SOLAS
amendment.
ITF president and chair of the ITF dockers’
section Paddy Crumlin explained: “This is a
key issue for transport workers worldwide.
We estimate containers which are declared
as one weight but in reality are
substantially lighter or heavier, may be in
the region of 20 per cent of cargo. That
presents a major health and safety risk to
dockers loading and unloading in ports, to
seafarers onboard cargo vessels, and to
drivers transporting containers on the
roads.”
He continued: “But this isn’t just a worker
issue. When a lorry jackknifes because it
can’t handle the burden of the container, if
a cargo ship splits in two because it’s been
overloaded, when port equipment and
infrastructure is prematurely worn down
because of overweight containers then you
have a major issue for the public, for the
environment and for shipping companies.”
He concluded: “It is time for this issue to
get the weighty response it deserves
and we want to see governments and
industry players get behind the SOLAS
amendment so that an appropriate
response to the issue can be delivered, via
the IMO.”
