Six seafarers that have spent the past eight months aboard a stranded bitumen tanker formerly owned by NewLead Holdings will be repatriated following an auction of the ship.
The 5,900-dwt Newlead Granadino (built 2009) was auctioned at a federal court in Baltimore at the request of French bank Natixis, which held the mortgage on the vessel and had it arrested this February over NewLead's unpaid debt.
Natixis was the sole bidder at the auction, using the amount owed on the ship to make a “credit bid”. No response from Natixis was immediately available with regard to what it will do with the ship.
The ship’s oiler, who came on board last August, said the engine was much more poorly maintained than other ships he served on.
“The exhaust would be cherry red,” the oiler said. “It was not a well-maintained ship.”
The oiler said he also served aboard another NewLead vessel, the 76,000-dwt Newlead Victoria (built 2002), about five years ago. He said wages were delayed for months at a time back then as well.
