Posted on 07/20/2016 6:05:22 AM PDT by Gamecock
Just six miles off the coast of Tybee Island is an abandoned ship with its crew still on board.
The boat has been anchored at sea for months after the company that owned the vessel defaulted on the loan.
The Newlead Castellano was arrested by U.S. Marshalls when it was making a sugar delivery at Imperial Sugar on April 19. Similar to what happens when a bank forecloses on a home if a company doesn't make payments on their vessel, the creditor then repossesses the ship.
According to an attorney on this case, the company in default is Newlead, a Greek company that deals with dry bulk commodities. Officials said Newlead had not only stopped making payments on the ship, but they also stopped paying its crew.
This multimillion-dollar vessel will soon be sold on the steps of the federal courthouse, but until then this Filipino crew is not allowed to come to the mainland because they don't have the legal documentation, and this vessel must remain anchored in the channel.
"You know, in my 16-year career practicing maritime law here in Savannah, I've only had this on one other occasion where the vessel owner has essentially abandoned the ship and we've had to actually sell the vessel at auction,” said attorney Todd Baiad. “This is not a typical situation that you would see."
“We could not avoid these things that happen,” said Captain Reynaldo Alcuizar.
“Everybody thinks that a sailor’s life is great,” said Gerard LoPreiato of the National Maritime Service. “It is when things run right.”
The ship was arrested in April after a Greek company defaulted on its loan. Similar to a home foreclosure, this vessel will be sold at auction. The only difference is, this ship comes with a crew of 15 Filipino sailors, and they are just as anchored as this ship is until there is a new owner.
Making more waves than this vessel has in months, the people at Hogan’s Marina took WTOC out to the crew, where we climbed aboard this vessel where life seems to be in limbo.
“Nobody can leave off of this ship, not even myself,” said LoPreiato.
LoPreiato works for the National Maritime Service, a firm that polices claims and enforces arrests like this. He was required to move in when the ship was arrested and will remain on board until the ship is sold.
He said the crew is actually in better hands now because not only had the owner of the company defaulted on their loan, this crew was also not getting paid.
"The crew is doing so much better since they got paid and were able to send money home," LoPreiato said.
He says the creditor is not only making sure the crew members are getting paid, but also making sure they have enough food, water and fuel on the ship.
"In the first place we were sad, but here in America we are happy," said Alcuizar.
Even though technically none of the crew have proper documents to come ashore, the captain said they are appreciative of just being this close. While we were there, it was evident that being onboard an abandoned ship was all relative.
"The wages are so low in their country, but when they work on a ship, what they make in one month, they would make in about four or five months there," LoPreiato said.
Since the crew is abandoned here at sea, they can't go to church. So the church came to them.
Father Brett Brannen of Blessed Sacrament has now made three trips to the vessel with the help of Hogan’s Marina.
"We need to give them that hope that this is going to pass, and it's a difficult experience for them but it will be a great learning experience for them as well,” Father Brannen said. "The crew is very welcoming of me and I hope it makes them feel the love of the church and reminds them of their own families and their own pastors back in the Philippines. The Catholic Church is everywhere in the world and our job is to take care of God's children.”
"It helps, you know because it gives us the courage to stay and not to worry about all of the things, you know," said Alcuizar.
Most of the crew on board haven't been home or seen their families in almost a year. Many of them sign contracts with companies and know exactly how long they will be away from home, but the contracts that this crew signed are now null and void until this vessel has a new owner.
"This is a sailor’s life,” Alcuizar said. “If you sign a contract, then you have to wait to finish these things."
The vessel is expected to be auctioned off on August 8.
Is that anything like an abandoned house with its owners still living in it?
Well, we’re getting toward the hurricane season. What happens to them if one is aiming for the Carolina coast?
I was visiting Tybee last October - has no idea...
Very interesting...
Maritime law is something.
I guess they hope it doesn’t hit the Georgia coast...
(I know how close it is to SC...)
Greek
HAHAHA
that says it all
the slimeiest ship owners/operators in the world
stay clear.......charter or deal with at your own risk
Perry Mason never handled a case like this even though in one episode there was a cargo ship involved but ship made it to port.
Yup, and he had to send Paul Drake overseas to investigate too.
The Molly K Matter, Johnny Dollar (old time radio Insurance Detective):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_mjvty19aA
It’s a really good one!
Several twists and good old fighting and punching!
I sometimes listen to that on XM’s OTR channel. It is good stuff.
The Whistler and the Whisperer are also favories.
I wonder if they’d take $12.71 for it...no wait just found another quarter...
Nice lookin’ ship. Give ya $5 for it. :)
Had to read that sentence twice.
I’ve been watching this boat for a few weeks now on Marinetraffic.com. Thanks for posting this article!
Been wondering why it was just sitting there. Of course, if I had gone to the ships homepage on marinetraffic, I would have seen the article they had posted there.
One day, I hope to see OUR boat’s AIS showing on the map. First step, buy the AIS. We have the sailboat.
Hoping some one would post it. Thanks for the pix.
Yea, I never heard of a ship being arrested before either. Reposed cars and houses, sure, but arrested? Although, by the definitions, it works.
If it’s either the wrath of nature or the wrath of the US government, I’d take the second choice and put the ship to port.
The Coast Guard has a quarantine dock just across the river from Ft. Pulaski. It could be tided up there. Seems a good place to put it really.
Just did some Googling and found this:
Arrest of a vessel is part of the process by which an Admiralty Court gains jurisdiction over the subject matter of a law suit. These lawsuits are known as "in rem" actions meaning that the action is again a "thing" rather than a person.
Generally, the vessel, itself, is responsible for payment of liens, mortgages or any other maritime lien that may arise. When the owner encumbers a vessel with a First Preferred Ship's Mortgage, it is the ship that guarantees payment rather than the owner. However, the owner may separately contract by a personal promise to pay or other type of guarantee to be personally liable.
Source:Maritme Law Center
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