The NewLead Holdings-owned bitumen tanker that has been stranded 68 days in Baltimore Harbor left layberth yesterday after being re-provisioned and receiving donations from concerned local citizens.
During the layberth, six of the eighteen seafarers aboard the ship, including one seafarer that has been on the ship for 15 months, were able to leave and are now headed home.
But the remaining crew members aboard the 5,900-dwt Newlead Granadino (built 2009), which has been idled due to a broken mainshaft, are doing well, according to Barbara Shipley, an inspector with the International Transport Workers Federation.
The crew "is happy at this point," Shipley said after a recent visit onboard the ship. "It was a bad situation for them. But it has turned around quickly."
Two tugboats brought in the Granadino to a layberth in Locust Point, Maryland, on Monday. In addition to clearing out waste from the ship, the crew received hot meals and donations from local maritime businesses and aid agencies after the crew's plight was highlighted in local media reports.
The local chapter of the Seafarers International Union has been collecting clothing and other items for the crew. McAllister Towing, Vane Brothers and the Maryland Pilots Association have also been volunteering services when the ship is in anchorage. Believe Wireless Broadband donated wireless internet service equipment to the ship last week.
Crew paid through 16 November
Shipley credits Captain Tudor Corfus for looking out for the crew during the ordeal and he has been very appreciative of all the donations.
"The captain does not want to abuse the hospitality of Baltimore during the situation," Shipley said. "The Baltimore port partners have stepped in to help and it's gotten better for the crew."
Shipley said safe manning rules allowed six crew members to leave the ship when it was in layberth. All six are said to be on their way home. Two more crew members may also be repatriated soon.
Likewise, the crew were paid back wages totalling about $285,000, with ship agents Host Agencies and manning agency Interorient helping the crew remit some of those wages back home.
As TradeWinds previously reported, France's Natixis, which has a lien on the vessel, hired Ravenship Management to step in and oversee daily management of the vessel in the absence of NewLead Holdings, which has blamed cash flow issues for stalling crew wages and ship repairs. Interorient and Ravenship resupplied the ship in late October with potable water and fresh provisions after the last provisions from NewLead ran out.
While a broken boiler on the ship is being repaired to provide heat to the crew, the main shaft repair may not occur for several months due to the lead time of ordering the part and installing it, Shipley said.
