- A HIGH COURT judge has ordered the sale of a foreign cargo ship so its stranded crew can return home.
- On Wednesday Justice Frank Seepersad ordered the sale of the BTMax1, which sails under the flag of Bolivia.
- But was owned by Inter Caribbean Shipping Ltd, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
A recent news article published in the News Day by jada Loutoo states that Judge orders cargo ship sold so stranded crew can return home.
Crew members are to be paid US$190,507.16
Under his order, the crew members are to be paid US$190,507.16, plus 2.5 per cent interest from March 31, and costs.
The ship was arrested and detained in September, but the crew had not been paid since March and were not given survival provisions, an application filed on behalf of the crew said.
BTMax1 is currently at anchorage
The BTMax1 is currently at anchorage in the Port of Spain Harbour, outside the Queen’s Wharf.
As ordered by the court, the proceeds from the sale of the vessel are to be paid into a First Citizens Bank US-dollar-denominated account in the name of the Registrar of the Supreme Court.
The money from the sale will go towards paying the crew and paying their repatriation costs.
Payment of wages and the sale of the ship
The application for payment of wages and the sale of the ship was filed by the crew’s attorneys Nyree Alphonso and Asif Hosein Shah. It was not defended, so judgment was granted in default.
In approving the sale, Seepersad said the crew members were put in an untenable and unfortunate situation.
He said the “callous and inhumane way they were treated” also had to be condemned as he congratulated the attorneys for intervening on the crew’s behalf.
While the ship has been in TT waters, one of its captains, Dalton Young, fell ill in October and had to be hospitalised at the Port of Spain General Hospital.
Recover medical costs and vacation pay
In January, attempts were made to have him repatriated to Honduras as well as to secure his outstanding wages, subsistence, recover medical costs and vacation pay.
However, Young died at the hospital in June.
In September, Justice Ricky Rahim ordered the arrest of the ship.
The ship’s deckhand, Trevor Bishop, went on affidavit in support of the applications before the court on behalf of himself, the captain and seven other crew members.
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Source: News Day
