Freighter Sinking in Mogadishu; Port will not Allow Crew to Shore

www.maritime-executive.com...

An aging bulker and its crew have been abandoned off of a far-flung foreign port, according to the International Transport Workers' Federation, and this particular case is worse than most: the location is inside of the Somali piracy high-risk zone, and the vessel is actively taking on water.

According to ITF, eleven seafarers are trapped aboard the 1977-built Haj Abdullah (IMO 7702114), and the ship is unable to leave an anchorage off Mogadishu. Only her bilge pumps are keeping her afloat.

The 44-year-old bulker developed cracks below the water line as she was transporting a cargo of sulfur from Dubai to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. On August 31, the Haj Abdullah called at Mogadishu for an inspection and for supplies. However, the port authorities would not allow the ship into the harbor and insisted it remain anchored off the coast. The crew has been there ever since, ITF reported, stuck on a vessel that cannot be repaired with the resources on hand...The 11 crewmembers have also gone unpaid for about 4-6 months, ITF says, and the vessel's Lebanese owners have reportedly not responded to inquiries.

wow. talk about third world.
shame on the owners, abandoning their people like that. I hope whatever International Court system there is will do something about this and hold someone accountable.
if the ship sinks and the mariners make it to shore on lifeboats, will they be allowed?

unbelievable.

Can you imagine being stuck on a ship with no A/C, no food, no water, no toilets...no nothing, for 90+ days in the blistering Somalian sun?? It must be a thousand degrees inside that ship! I'll bet you can smell that thing from six miles away!

Tell ya' what...lock me up on a sweltering 140F degree ship in the blazing sun for 90+ days with no food and water, and when you get to me you're going to find one smelly, Spleen eatin', blood suckin', CRAZY, MF'er!!

And dat's a fact, Jack!!

a reply to: ElGoobero

First we shaft truck drivers and dock workers now we shaft sailors moving our goods.
What is their reasoning, covid?

I would say unbelievable but nothing surprises me in this # world anymore.

Everyone to the lifeboats and we scuttle the ship. Or restart the main engines and make for Kenya which is a couple of hundred miles south of there. Then let it sink in deep water. Problem solved once it sinks.

a reply to: chris_stibrany

Well...the ship is full of sulphur mined in Dubai bound for Tanzania, so I don't really think this has anything to do with "our" goods.

a reply to: ntech

Sounds like the main engines are dead, but if they aren't what they should really do is start them up and head the vessel straight for the nearest beach in Somalia (after abandoning ship of course). Better to beach a ship load of sulphur on the beach than scuttle it in the water. Pure Sulphur would wipe out everything for miles in the water.