One arrested Saint James Shipping product tanker has been sold by an Indian court while another remains at anchor with the crew and master condemning neglect of their welfare by all parties.
A lawyer for US alternative ship finance lender EnTrust Global told TradeWinds the 18,041-dwt Aeon (built 2012), under arrest at Mumbai, has now been sold at auction and a deposit received by the Bombay High Court.
VesselsValue and brokers report that India’s Seven Islands Shipping won the auction with a bid of $13m.
The Aeon is one of four ships EnTrust is seeking to repossess from Saint James.
Saint James owner Sam Tariverdi could not immediately be reached for comment.
EnTrust’s London lawyer Charles Buss of Watson, Farley, and Williams confirmed the auction sale and says a handover is set for 14 September for what he characterised as “a good price”.
Meanwhile, the master of the 11,479-dwt Sol (built 2007) has threatened to set his ship adrift to get the attention of local authorities and to build an open fire on the tanker’s deck for cooking.
“All responsible parties seem numb to our call,” wrote captain Asad bin Sayeed in a message dated 7 September to local authorities plus representatives of the owner, lender, port agent, trade union, and others.
“Our last resort then would be to pick up anchor and start drifting in flood tide in order to attract the port authorities at least. Not left with enough fuel to start the main engine,” wrote the captain.
The ship is running emergency generators a few hours a day, the captain wrote, and temperatures in the ship’s accommodation are high. The crew is almost out of bottled water to drink.
His ship has been under arrest at Hazira in Gujarat province since July, with repeated urgent pleas going out from on board and from International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) officials for the welfare of the unpaid and infrequently supplied crew.
“Please do not blame the vessel master/crew if anything unto happens,” wrote Asad.
His vessel like the Aeon is under a court sale order pursuant to legal action by EnTrust.
The Gujarat High Court had set a sale for earlier this week, EnTrust’s lawyer Buss told TradeWinds. But it was delayed because a surveyor was unable to board the ship to fix the reserve price.
The sale of the Sol would leave the Saint James Shipping fleet with only the 13,554-dwt Lua (built 2010), already idled for many months at a shipyard in the Dominican Republic, and the 17,475-dwt Ariana (built 2016), now at anchor in UAE waters.
TradeWinds has previously reported on the standoff between rival masters and crews over the ship at the port of Mocha in Yemen. The ship’s former crew employed by Global Radiance Ship Management first declined to hand over the ship until their unpaid wage demands were met, but yielded to new crew sent by owner Saint James Shipping and were repatriated, allegedly after local armed authorities showed up in support of Saint James.
AIS information indicates that the Ariana remains off Dubai, where it arrived on 17 August after leaving Mocha.
