arrived Gadani Anchorage 27.05.22
News
ODIN
Lawyers for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines are going after the buyers of te 'Odin' ex 'Black Watch' to block its imminent beaching in Alang. She is at anchor off Gujarat on the Indian north-western coast, where it arrived on May 5. The UK-based, Norwegian-controlled cruise ship owner wants to know if its next stop is meant to be the beach. "We have taken steps to try to prevent this,” a Fred Olsen Cruise spokesman stated, as such a move would violate a sales contract clause calling for green scrapping of the vessel once its end-of-life job as an accommodation vessel is over. But Fred Olsen Cruise is uncertain about the ship’s final destiny. “Following the sale of Black Watch to Turkish buyers in 2020, our research shows that the vessel is currently offshore India. We have taken steps behind the scenes to enforce the terms of the sale in 2020 to Turkish buyers, which requires the vessel to be recycled at the end of her trading life in accordance with the Hong Kong Convention at a fully certified Turkish ship recycling facility able to perform proper green ship recycling. The steps we have taken include obtaining an interim injunction against the Turkish buyers. While we do not have a full picture of what has happened to the vessel since the sale, we understand that the vessel has since changed hands. Unfortunately, we have not received a full picture from the Turkish buyers.”” The ship changed hands only in April and is now recorded as managed by Mumbai-based BBN Shipmanagement, a cash buyer-linked company, and as owned by a Marshall Islands special purpose vehicle called Olivia Navigation, with contact in care of Navi Mumbai-based Machtrans Ship Management. Fred Olsen Cruise has never identified its counterparty in the sale, but suggested the buyer has not been transparent about the further disposition of the vessel.