15 Filipinos stranded since April on ship seized by US Marshals
US Marshals seized the Newlead Castellano, with 15 Filipino sailors on board, because its owners defaulted on a bank loan. SHIPSPOTTING
SAN FRANCISCO – A Greek-owned ship with 15 Filipino crewmen has been anchored six miles off Tybee Island in Georgia for nearly four months, waiting to be auctioned off. A bank foreclosed on the ship because the company that owned it defaulted on its loan.
The ship, Newlead Castellano, will be auctioned off August 8 at a federal courthouse. Until then the Filipino sailors are not allowed to come to the Georgia mainland because they don’t have the proper documents, and the ship must remain anchored off Tybee Island.
US Marshals seized the Newlead Castellano when it was delivering sugar at Imperial Sugar on April 19 so the creditor could repossess the ship.
The company in default is Newlead, a Greek firm that deals with dry bulk commodities. Officials said Newlead had not only stopped making payments on the ship, but they also stopped paying its crew.
A maritime official said the creditor is now making sure the crewmembers are getting paid and that they have enough food, water and fuel on the ship.
Meanwhile, in Bermuda, the police identified the Filipino crewman who died July 20 as a result of a cruise ship safety training accident as 41-year-old Filipino national Diogenes Carpio.
A police spokesperson said, “Mr. Carpio, a Filipino national, was one of four crewman involved in an incident that occurred onboard the cruise ship Norwegian Breakaway berthed at King’s Wharf in Dockyard around 11:59 a.m. Wednesday, when a lifeboat broke from its tethering and fell into the water.
