I remember Busan when the Soviet Union was falling apart, the place was lousy with Russian ships and the streets were filled with crews who were selling whatever they could unbolt and carry off.
2 Likes
I seem to recall reading something about Texas Street bars being Russian oriented these days. Hell, it has been decades since I have ever walked into the New York or Hollywood bar. . . uh, on my way to the churches and museums, of course. . . . .
4 Likes
It seemed like there was a big shift toward the Russian clientele on Texas Street over just a couple of years. Oh yes, I also have vague recollections of walking past the Hollywood on my way to one of the Mozart bakeries.
Nothing to do with Texas Street, but a bit âTexasâ:
In the early 1990s I went to Busan to take delivery of a Russian longliner that had been arrested and sold on auction to a Norwegian company.
Onboard was a few tonnes of frozen squid to be used as bait, which was a problem. To get rid of it when the boat arrived in Singapore for docking would cost a lot of money.
While I was looking at ways of disposing the bait in Busan some of the former Russian crew arrived on board. They had got hold of another longliner and needed bait for their first fishing trip in the Bering Sea.
They knew their way around and did not care about my âprotestsâ. They carried off the boxes of squid into their boat and disappeared, saving me a headache and the new Owners some money.
1 Like
There were a lot of Russian trawlers in Lyttelton back then all rafted up. Some charities provided food for them. They looked bloody miserable and had every reason to be.
New record??:
It is getting worse, not better:
Good news story. ITF to the rescue:
Does MLC actually work as intended, especially in regards to abandonment??:
https://www.gard.no/web/updates/content/31922692/mlc-support-for-abandoned-seafarers-theory-and-practice-
sink it and they will get to come ashore
Koch Shipping of the USA and Greek owned Lebanese company? Wouldnât expect either to give a rats ass about crew. IMO is a joke too.
1 Like
Sieze the ships, sell them and give the crew everything left after paying port fees.
Donât say the ship canât be forfeited in a minute, the drug cops do it all the time.*
*Except of course when the side carries the logo of a major shipping line with political connections.
2 Likes
You mean JP Morgan Chase owner of a ship with 20 tons of cocaine? They said they had no operational control of that ship. MSC the operator said,âOops, shit happensâ Ship was released. If your cousin brings in a kilo of cocaine on the RIB you let him take out, try the same defense.
I think âasset forfeitureâ is one of those laws that only apply to little people and as we slide into 3rd world status the firewall that protects the real criminals only gets higher.
2 Likes
I think the structure was more complicated than that. (In general, I donât have any detailed knowledge of this particular case):
- JP Morgan Chase front a consortium of investors that owned the ship though a multitude of Trusts and Holding companies in BI, Cayman Islands, Panama, Delaware etc.
- Managed by a 3rd Party Ship Management Company somewhere.
- On long term charter to MSC, who gets to put their name and logo on the vessel.
The containers they carry are sealed and the content only known by what has been declared by the shipper on the BL and Manifest.
Neither the Shipping Co., Master or Crew have any way of knowing if any drugs, or other illegal items, are in the containers. (In some cases even people are smuggled this way)
Sorry Bug but the reality is a little bit different than the innocent structure you would like your readers to believe:
I donât know this particular case. Was the drugs found in one of the containers, or hidden somewhere on the ship by some of the crew?
20 tons is not easy to carry on board by one or two persons, nor to bring ashore again without detection.
I commented on the ownership/management7charterer structure in shipping today and the normal procedure for container carriage.
It is no longer the old way where the Owners was shipping people, with seafarers in their operating staff that managed and operated the ships themselves on liner terms.
Such companies exists still, but they are few and far between. It is now more likely to be the way I described, with the ships being just âassetsâ and Masters necessary. evils.
It is inconceivable that there was a single person onboard that ship who did not know what was going on.
Yes, if that is the fact then it is inconceivable that there was a single person onboard that ship who did not know what was going on.
It it surprising that the crew had access to containers with goods like wine etc. Normally such containers would be locked for security and sealed for customs procedure in transit.
BTW; Did the suppliers of the drugs and the intended receivers in Râdam get identified and arrested?
A little surprising if someone that had the ability to arrange offshore delivery drugs to a ship at sea at several locations along the S.American coast and someone in Râdam that could access (randomly selected??) containers to remove the drugs at the other end, didnât leave some clues to their identity.
It would require quite a big organization, with a large number of individuals involved, to pull this off.
Oh well they lost 20 tons of drugs, so maybe they werenât so clever after all.