Detained shadow tanker released after Russian crew pay dispute

A shadow fleet tanker held after its Russian crew members complained of not being paid for two months has been released by authorities in Gibraltar.

The 50,900-dwt Electra (built 2005) was held by port state control on 28 January because of problems with the ship and the “working and living conditions of seafarers”, according to authorities.

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The problems of paying crew members were said to have been caused because of international sanctions and restrictions on banking services, according to sources close to the ship.

The payment problems had been expected to be resolved within days.

“The deficiencies raised in relation to the lack of payment of wages have been rectified,” said the Gibraltar Maritime Administration. “Crew changes did take place in Gibraltar during the course of the vessel’s stay.”

The Gabon-flagged Electra has now been removed from the list of vessels detained by the 27-member countries of the Paris MoU on port state control. Ship tracking data shows the vessel stopped off the coast of Spain in the Alboran Sea.

The MR2 tanker specialised in moving Russian products after it was sold by Oslo-based Atlantica Shipping in November 2022 and became part of the fleet of Gatik Ship Management which rapidly grew to about 60 ships.

The vessel is now listed as owned and managed by Gordian Shipping & Marine, a single-ship company based in the Marshall Islands, according to Equasis.

Indian-based Galena Ship Management, based in Thane, a suburb of Mumbai, is listed as the technical manager of the ship. It has five vessels under technical management, all previously tied to Gatik.

Nobody was immediately available from the ship’s management.

The dispute over wages on the Electra followed the detention of another Gatik-linked ship, the 73,741-dwt Galatia (built 2005), in July after inspectors identified 22 defects, the Antwerp port state control said. It had also been involved in lifting Russian oil.