Taiwanese port authorities have steered a Greek-controlled bulker to a safe anchorage off Kaohsiung after receiving union reports that the 22-year-old panamax was posing a risk to the crew.
Officials of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) posted on LinkedIn that a hold of the 74,000-dwt Agios Nikolaos I (built 2000) was full of water and its forward ballast tanks were taking on water.
The vessel is listed under the management of Piraeus-based Ilios Shipping. Officials at Arion Chartering, a company with the same address as Ilios, told TradeWinds that any damages had already been repaired.
“The safety of the crew, ship or cargo was never in question,” an Arion manager stated.
According to the company, the ship was sailing in heavy weather southeast of Taiwan when its master suspected that a hold was damaged.
The Agios Nikolaos I then changed route to seek safe anchorage at Kaohsiung, where water ingress was confirmed in one hold only.
ITF representatives in Taiwan earlier told TradeWinds that they had contacted the Kaohsiung Harbour Bureau on Tuesday, and it in turn established communication with the vessel.
According to the ITF, the Taiwan Coast Guard dispatched two boats to the bulker, on concerns that it was in “precarious” condition, and to stand by for a possible evacuation.
On Wednesday, a pilot went aboard and the Agios Nikolaos I was moved, accompanied by a tug, to a safer anchorage close to Kaohsiung port.
The ITF said Taiwanese authorities are waiting for the vessel’s owners to appoint an agent so that it can be brought into harbour for a full inspection and assessment of damages.
An ITF official said in the LinkedIn post that there were signs of hogging on the ship — the situation in which stress causes a hull to bend upwards.
“Sadly, while the crew are afraid for their lives, they are also too afraid to complain openly because they fear the result will be blacklisting,” posted Peter Lahay, a national ITF coordinator in Vancouver, Canada, who said he was the first to be alerted.
