Crew ‘well cared for’ as Hanjin ship remains stuck in limbo

VICTORIA Local residents concerned about the welfare of crew members on the container ship Hanjin Vienna took to their phones when they learned the vessel was stuck in limbo in waters off Victoria.

“The phone rang off the hook,” said Kathryn Murray, manager of the Mission to Seafarers office in Vancouver. The mission is a global organization that assists mariners.

Callers said: “I can see the ship. What can I do?” Murray said.

“Normally I would say: ‘All hands on deck, this is an emergency.’ But not this time.”

That’s because the representatives of the German-flagged vessel are taking top-notch care of the crew, Murray said.

Supplies have been paid for and delivered to the ship, she said.

“This company has looked after everything. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

She has her own message to the public: “Thank you to everybody that has really cared.”

The ship and its crew are victims of the financial collapse of Korea’s Hanjin Shipping, once the seventh largest container-shipping company in the world. It went into receivership at the end of August, and creditors are seeking billions of dollars.

The Vienna isn’t owned by Hanjin. It’s owned by a German firm and is managed by Reederei NSB, also of Germany, which is taking care of the vessel.

Even so, the 279-metre Hanjin Vienna was put under arrest on Sept. 1 at Deltaport Terminal at Roberts Bank in Surrey. It was then permitted to leave Vancouver and anchor at Constance Bank, off Victoria’s Dallas Road.

The ship was allowed to return to Vancouver for supplies a couple of weeks ago before returning to Constance Bank. It’s been there seven weeks.

Murray, who has spoken to a ship representative, said: “They have looked after all the needs of the seafarers, even by bringing our chaplains on board by water taxi a couple of times.”

Bettina Wiebe, head of corporate communications for NSB, said in an email from Germany: “All 22 crew members are safe and well cared for — including provision and their payment.”

Although Murray understood that the crew was solely from the Philippines, Wiebe said there are also crew members from Germany, Poland and Ukraine.

Wiebe said NSB could not provide any information about the cargo on board the Vienna.

The Vienna’s owner is in negotiations with Hanjin about the money it’s owed, Wiebe said.