Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has arrested a former cruise ship it sold for eventual recycling at an approved facility in Turkey but that instead ended up off the Indian shipbreaking centre of Alang.
The UK-based, Norwegian-controlled cruise operator has secured an arrest warrant from the High Court of Gujarat in Ahmedabad against the 28,600-gt Odin (ex-Black Watch, built 1972) as part of its legal battle to prevent it being scrapped in India.
The company wants the ship returned to Turkey for recycling.
The Odin arrived at the Bhavnagar anchorage in preparation for beaching at nearby Alang on 3 June and was arrested three days later. It had arrived in Indian waters in early May.
Fred Olsen claims that it sold the ship to a Turkish company in September 2020, with clauses in the sales contract expressly stipulating that it was to be used in an accommodation role for six to eight months, after which it was to be recycled at a Hong Kong Convention-compliant facility in Turkey.
The cruise operator has never publicly identified the Turkish company to which it sold the Black Watch and a sister vessel, the 28,600-gt Boudicca (built 1973).
However, in the Indian court proceedings, it named the company as 2E Maritime, a Tuzla-based company that is involved in towing, salvage, shipbroking and recycling.
2E Maritime has been contacted for comment.
Fred Olsen told TradeWinds in May that it was taking steps to enforce the terms of the sale in 2020, which require the vessel to be recycled in accordance with the Hong Kong Convention at a fully certified Turkish facility able to perform proper green ship recycling.
The company, in its Indian legal filings, accused the Turkish counterparty of blatantly breaching the terms and conditions of their memorandum of agreement, and claims to have suffered damages and losses as a result.
Although the beaching of the ship has been prevented for now, the judge hearing the case has indicated that the arrest order could be lifted if persons interested in the vessel lodge a security deposit of $4.16m, the original value of the ship.
The ship is now recorded as managed by Mumbai-based BBN Shipmanagement, a cash buyer-linked company, and as owned by a Marshall Islands special purpose vehicle called Olivia Navigation, with contact care of Navi Mumbai-based Machtrans Ship Management.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Olivia Navigation told TradeWinds the company was not made aware of the conditions of the original sale when it acquired the ship and was therefore unaware that there had been any clause breaches.
Olivia Navigation is contesting the arrest.
The Boudicca met its end in May 2021 at the hands of Turkey’s Ersay Ship Recycling in Aliaga.
Fred Olsen group holding company Bonheur is the largest shareholder in NHST Media Group, which owns TradeWinds.
