MT CHARIS

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Master of abandoned tanker died of heart stroke

After the 'Remos' was abandoned by its owners in Dec 2019, and was arrested at Tema anchorage in Feb 2020, the Master of the vessel died of a heatstroke on June 20- He could not stand the conditions in which the shipowner had abandoned him and the crew and died without having received his repatriation ticket home after a very protracted contract. The vessel, which had a crew of two Russians, a Ghanaian and eight Pakistanis, has been anchored off the port of Tema, Ghana, for about a year, after the shipowner abandoned it. He hasn't paid the crew, there was not enough food on board and fuel was running out. The crew began to complain about a deterioration in their health, an exacerbation of a chronic disease. Currently the 'Remos' was without identification marks, the diesel generator does not work, so there is no lighting on board and the tanker is a danger to navigation. The vessel is without fuel, air conditioning, toilets, a galley and the showers do not work. The crew learned about coronavirus from the internet. They are not afraid of the disease, because they live in complete isolation, however the pandemic has further complicated their situation. Only when Ghana opens its borders, the crew may be repatriated with partial payment of salaries and insurance with the help of insurers and the ITF. The tanker is likely to be put up for auction, with any remaining funds from the sale being paid to the crew after the sale of the vessel. Previously, the representatives of the shipowner, the Etterna Company, promised the crew that everything would work out, but in Feb 2020, the Tema authorities arrested the tanker because the shipowner did not pay port charges. Since May 2020, the employer has stopped responding to crew's messages.