Three officers stuck in Taiwan five months after their container ship sank have appealed to the president for their “release”.
The 1,262-teu feeder ship Angel (built 2003) was anchored 2.8 nautical miles (5.2 km) outside Kaohsiung in July when it developed a list after taking on water, reportedly due to structural issues.
The crew of 19 were evacuated and more than 1,000 empty containers were feared lost.
Sixteen seafarers have now been repatriated to their families in Azerbaijan.
But captain Aliyev Teymur, chief officer Kirill Hasanov and chief engineer Nazim Kazim Abasov remain in a hotel.
In a letter to Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-Wen seen by TradeWinds, the master said: “I remain in your country, effectively under arrest.”
He said there had been no charges and he understood that the prosecution had decided there was no case to answer, “and yet here we remain, detained indefinitely”.
The master named the shipowner as Navramar Shipping of the Marshall Islands.
Clarksons lists a company of the same name in Switzerland, which has been contacted for comment.
Teymur quotes a letter from the Ocean Affairs Council (OAC) of Taiwan to the shipowner, saying that because neither Navramar nor the master dealt with the accident proactively, the authorities took action to avoid environmental damage.
The cost of this will be recovered from the owner, the council’s letter adds.
Crew prevented from leaving
But the OAC also requested that three “important” crew members be prevented from leaving Taiwan.
They will be allowed home once the shipowner has paid enough security, it said.
Teymur wrote to Tsai: “With the greatest respect to your OAC, I believe they may have misunderstood the role of the crew during the events leading up to the incident and then their role in preventing damage to the environment subsequently.”
This could be partly due to overestimating the importance of the three officers, he added.
The master explained that this was the trio’s first trip for Navramar.
The captain and chief officer joined only two weeks before the sinking, when the vessel was already taking on water off Kaohsiung.
He claims a salvage contract was signed with Asian Marine the day before the sinking , but the company was not allowed by port authorities to attend the ship.
Wages and costs will not be paid
That evening, the master and chief officer returned to the boxship twice with salvors, with the intention of boarding to save it.
But they were again denied access that could have prevented the incident, Teymur said.
His “former employer” has now told the three seafarers it will not pay their wages, or their bills for accommodation or expenses.
“In short, they have abandoned us. We are not of importance to them,” the master added.
He claims to have faced no questioning by the authorities for months.
“Our sole purpose and importance now lies in our capacity as hostages, detained at your OAC’s leisure, in furtherance of their dispute with Navramar,” Aliyev told Tsai.
“In the name of justice, I urge you to allow us to return to your families.”
