BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AFTER some four days of drifting in the Caribbean Sea, the embattled MV Smarty was towed into Port Basseterre and is currently anchored approximately 800 metres off Fort Point, in the vicinity of the Historic Fort Thomas Hotel.
SKNVibes understands that MV Smarty was anchored at New Guinea but for some unknown reason went adrift on Sunday (Dec. 13) with no one on board.
This was confirmed by the Public Affairs Officer of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF), Captain Kayode Sutton, who stated, “On Sunday, December 13 at 11:00 a.m. Mr. Errol Douglas, Manager of St. Christopher Air and Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA), contacted the Coast Guard by telephone and reported that MV Smarty was left secured to an anchor at New Guinea but he received information that the vessel was not seen in the area.”
According to Sutton, the SKNDF’s Coast Guard is committed to its core responsibility in the safety of life and property at sea and recovery of vessel if required. He noted that because of this mandate and their commitment to the nation, they decided to assist and a missing vessel memorandum was sent to the Maritime Rescue and Search Coordination Center (MRSCC) in Martinique and the information was also relayed to the Control Tower in St. Kitts requesting aircraft to be on the lookout for the vessel.
“At 4:30 p.m. that Sunday, information was received that the vessel was sighted approximately 20 nautical miles south of Sandy Point, and one hour later CGV Ardent and crew left with instructions to collect Messrs. Regiwell Francis and Christian Solomon and take them on board the MV Smarty.
“At 1:15 a.m. on Monday, December 14, the Coast Guard vessel and crew returned to base and reported that Messrs. Francis and Solomon, along with ration and water, were safely transported to the MV Smarty which was approximately 28 nautical miles south-west off Sandy Point,” Sutton said.
Recounting his involvement in the salvaging of the vessel, Francis, owner and Director of St. Kitts Marine Works Ltd., told SKNVibes that he was informed of the situation while in church.
“While in church about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 13, I received a call saying that the MV Smarty was no longer at New Guinea on anchor. I have outstanding bills for previous work done on the boat, and because of that I contacted Customs to find out if the vessel was legally removed, stolen or drifted away on its own, and if they had knowledge of its whereabouts,” Francis said.
Francis said he later found out that Customs had no knowledge of its whereabouts and “I coordinated with the Port Authority and we had a helicopter search for the boat in the area where we thought it would be if it dragged anchor. It turned out that the boat did drag anchor and was drifting as a result of the recent rough sea and high winds”.
As indicated by Captain Sutton, Francis said the MV Smarty was sighted, coordinates were given and he and another engineer boarded a Coast Guard vessel and proceeded to the estimated area where they thought it would be.
“It took us about three and a half hours to get there because the waters were very rough, and the vessel was just a quarter of a mile away from where I calculated it should have been. The engineer and I boarded the boat and the Coast Guard vessel returned to St. Kitts.”
Admittedly, Francis said it was a dangerous mission and there was some degree of fear when boarding the vessel because he did not know if anyone was on board armed and prepared to fight for it. He was however armed but “luckily no one was on board and I claimed the vessel under international salvage rules”.
Francis said they had requested that Tug Tyson leave Port Basseterre at about mid-night on Sunday (Dec. 13), which he estimated would have reached them by daybreak to tow the vessel back to St. Kitts.
“However, while waiting on the tug’s arrival, we drifted further away in the Caribbean Sea. We were unable to communicate with anyone on our cell phones, but we got the generator to work and were only in communication with MRSCC in Port de France in Guadeloupe by means of a VHF radio on board the vessel. We also turned on the lights so that the tug would have little or no difficulty in finding us.
“We had drifted for approximately 74 miles away from St. Kitts when the tug arrived at our location about nine o’clock the following night, and we took about 20 minutes to secure the vessel to the tug and were towed to St. Kitts,” Francis explained.
Francis further explained that the tug performed outstandingly in the rough sea and they were only able to travel at a rate of 1.5 to 1.8 nautical miles per hour. He also informed that after being towed for some six hours, the towline broke at approximately 12:05 a.m. and he and Solomon had the tedious task of having it reattached.
“My engineer and I were out of food for a day and a half and we could have had resupply from the tug, but we did not want stop and do that because this move could have caused the towline to break again. It was a continuous tow, both day and night, and we arrived in Basseterre about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Dec. 16),” Francis added.
Francis further informed that according to the law, upon arrival in the Federation, he contacted the Receiver of Wrecks and Customs to let all parties concerned know what transpired. He stated that they were further delayed in reaching Port Basseterre after the tug had developed engine and steering problems while towing the vessel, but they problems were rectified by the crew.
According to Francis, with directions from the Director of Maritime and Civil Aviation Affairs, McClean Hobson, he anchored the vessel off Fort Point and, in accordance with Section 271 of the Merchant Shipping Act 2002, within 48 hours of arrival it was handed over to Hobson.
In seeking information on MV Smarty’s presence in the Federation’s territorial waters, SKNVibes contacted International Maritime Lawyer Agatha James-Andries, who stated that she was not authorised to make any pronouncement on the vessel and advised that the Attorney-General is the appropriate source.
She however commended Francis for “taking such great and dangerous risk”, and noted that the international community welcomes such efforts by salvos.
SKNVibes has however learnt from an informed source that the MV Smarty is owned by a Greek company and was in St. Kitts since April 2009. The vessel had arrived in the Federation with a consignment of cement for two local agents, but lack of maintenance caused its engine and other vital equipment to malfunction.
Additionally, the crew members, including Cubans and Liberians, were without food and claimed that the ship’s owner owed them five months wages. But luckily for them, they were fed and accommodated through the efforts of the Labour Department, the Trades and Labour Union, TDC and Customs. The Social Welfare Department also offered assistance.
It was also revealed that the crew members ended their service in St. Kitts and were repatriated. The owners were informed by the Air and Sea Ports Authority that the vessel would be sold, which is in keeping with the Laws of St. Kitts and Nevis under the Merchant Shipping Act of 2002.
Further, the owners of the vessel had promised to visit the Federation but, to date, no one has arrived. However, the matter is in court and a local attorney was hired to represent them.
Additional information has reached this media house, stating that a similar incident occurred with a sister vessel in Santo Domingo and it was sold at an auction in Emden, Germany on November 27, 2008 for over US$700 000 after being laid up for more than two years.
SKNVibes was also informed that under Section 275 © of the Merchant Shipping Act of 2002, the legal matter can be dealt with expeditiously.
