CORAL I

scrapped

General information

Course/Position

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Beached

Beached at Chittagong 07.11.21

Sold to Breakers

Sold to Breakers 587 USD/TO as is Malaysia

Crew in limbo on arrested FSO

The crew of the 'Sea Coral' which is under arrest at a Malaysian anchorage was becoming increasingly agitated after a three-month ordeal that has seen them trapped on the vessel without pay. There were 25 crew members onboard the FSO, which was arrested through the Malaysian High Court by creditor HSBC on Nov 8, 2020, at the Johor Bahru anchorage in Malaysia. The vessel's flag state, the Cook Islands, and protection and indemnity insurer, which is Gard, have stepped into try to resolve the situation, working with Gard who have been proactive in comforting the crew on board and keeping them updated with developments. They were in contact with the Master of the vessel who was doing his best to keep the crew calm. The parties were seeking to resolve the situation through the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC). The vessel’s protection and indemnity and MLC cover is with Gard Singapore's office. Under the terms of cover, four months wages are guaranteed in the case of abandonment. It is understood the parties involved accept the situation represents one of abandonment. The vessel was operated by the now collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading under a charter arrangement with the Xihe Group which controlled the vessel. Ocean Tankers was appointed technical manager of the Sea Coral but was served with a termination letter from Hin Leong in October. Following Hin Leong's financial difficulties EY was appointed judicial manager of Ocean Tankers. Restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus prevented the crew from being repatriated and payment to crew was suspended in November. The situation become more complicated when Hin Leong creditor HSBC moved to arrest the vessel. The crew is made up of 14 Chinese, five Burmese, four Bangladesh, one Malaysian and one Indonesian. A final solution rests on upcoming Malaysian court hearings, scheduled in the coming days in which we will be able to comment further on the outcome and hopefully resolve the immediate issue of the unpaid wages and a plan for the crew going forward.