Delay in court order keeps sailors in limbo
Yasmin Anwar
Advertiser Staff Writer
A group of destitute Montenegrin sailors remain stranded in Honolulu Harbor as the owner of their impounded cargo ship amasses hundreds of thousands of dollars in debts.
However, creditors yesterday moved a step closer to gaining a federal judge's permission to sell the Maltese flagship, Obod. The sale is intended to pay off the debts needed to free the vessel that has been grounded in Hawai'i for more than four months, as well as its restless crew.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra yesterday held off on issuing an order allowing creditors to sell the Obod. But Ezra could do so next month if the owner, Barmar Ship Management LTD and Oktoih Overseas Shipping Co. is unable to reach a settlement with its creditors.
Ezra said he will deal with the issue after April 9 when he returns from a Mainland trip. The judge raised the possibility that by next month, the various parties involved in the case will have agreed on the details of the sale.
"I have no intention of letting this languish," Ezra said.
For eight Obod sailors who attended yesterday's court hearing, the delay meant more time away from their families in Montenegro, a former Yugoslav republic.
"People are nervous, scared. They want to know what's going to happen," said Alexsander Gojkovic, a ship engineer who joined the Obod last August when the ship set sail from South Korea.
Several of the 20 Montenegrin sailors who arrived in Hawai'i on Nov. 4 because of engine problems are still stuck aboard the 600-foot-long Obod.
A dozen sailors are suing for unpaid wages and other damages. Also suing is Nordic Technical Development Inc., the tugboat company that towed the ship. Its lawyers estimate the ship's custodial expenses are running between $45,000 and $52,000 a month.
The Obod ran into trouble last September while bound for the East Coast to deliver building materials for a Washington, D.C., convention center. The ship lost part of its cargo during a powerful storm at sea. Then the engine conked out.
After two weeks adrift, the Obod was towed into Honolulu Harbor by a tugboat. After a 29-day offshore leave, the INS ordered the sailors to remain aboard the ship.
U.S. marshals seized the ship on Dec. 28. A month later, INS officials granted the ship's crew a 60-day advance parole to step offshore at their will.
But that parole expires at the end of the month, and the sailors' lawyer, Clarence Kekina, said he does not know whether immigration officials will extend it.
