The Oceanco
build has been held under a maritime lien since it was arrested in March and is
now being ordered for sale…
By decree of
the Civil Court (First Hall) of Malta on 14 May 2018, the 95m Oceanco-built
motoryacht, Indian Empress, will be auctioned for sale at the Courts of
Justice in Valetta on Monday 21 May at 12pm noon, on the application of Melita
Power Diesel.
The Indian
owner of the Isle of Man-flagged superyacht, Vijay Mallya, whose business
endeavours include the Force India Formula One team and Kingfisher Airlines,
was arrested in London on 3 October at the request of the Indian government,
which asked for his extradition to stand trial over an alleged debt of more
than 90 billion rupees (£1 billion).
As
such, Indian Empress has been completely abandoned since September
2017, leaving the 40-person crew with months of unpaid wages. By the time the
yacht was impounded in Malta in March 2018, the crew was owed over $1 million
in unpaid wages, with individuals owed anything between $6,250 to more than
$92,000.
Representing some of the affected crewmembers was the maritime professionals’ union, Nautilus International, which was instrumental in having the vessel arrested. Nautilus made use of the provisions of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) to secure a payment of $615,000 for the crew via Norwegian protection and indemnity insurance specialist, Skuld, however there remain arrears.
The yacht has
been held under a maritime lien since March while Nautilus sought the
payment of outstanding wages and other costs over and above the amounts covered
by the MLC financial security provisions. The lien has provided the crew with
claim over the vessel to the value of the debt owed, but with the owner having
ignored multiple requests to settle the debts, the yacht will now be auctioned
by the Courts of Justice.
A source
close to both SuperyachtNews and Indian Empress said that
the crew has been ‘really suffering’ during this tumultuous period and is
‘thrilled’ that the formerly prolific charter boat is up for auction.
Source : SuperyachtNews
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