ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 27, 1996 TAG: 9604290031
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: BILL SIZEMORE LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Its name is the Pride of Donegal, but its disheartened crewmen have nicknamed it the Alcatraz.
The Liberian-registered freighter sailed from Canada in December, bound for Bombay with a load of heavy machinery. Hampton Roads wasn't even on the itinerary.
But engine troubles in the Atlantic sent it limping into port here in mid-January, and here it sits today - anchored off the Norfolk Naval Base awaiting a court-ordered auction.
For the ship's 28 Pakistani and Indian crewmen, it's been the voyage to nowhere. The lifeboats are in a state of disrepair, a water taxi to shore costs $150 each way, and the crewmen haven't seen a paycheck in six months. So they're stuck.
``You can imagine how hard it has been for us,'' Syed Ijtaba Hussain Zeidi, the second engineer, said in a shipboard interview Thursday. ``We are like floating prisoners.''
Zeidi had planned to be home in mid-February. He has been on the ship 11 months. He's been stuck in Hampton Roads three months.
The vessel's mechanical problems began in the Great Lakes, Zeidi said, but the owners - apparently because of money problems - refused to make repairs.
``We said, `For God's sake, take action,''' Zeidi said. ``But they said, `No, keep on your voyage at any cost.'''
Finally, 560 miles east of Norfolk, despite round-the-clock efforts by the crew, the engines gave up.
The disabled 518-foot freighter was towed into port Jan. 18 and detained by the Coast Guard for safety violations.
``The Coast Guard boarded and discovered quite a few problems,'' said Lt. Dan Rotermund, a spokesman for the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Norfolk. ``All of the documents that addressed the required safety aboard the vessel were expired.''
The ship was docked at Norfolk International Terminals for repairs. But the owners soon became embroiled in disputes with crewmen and creditors who claimed they weren't being paid.
Now the ship is at the center of a many-sided legal tussle in federal court. Claims have been filed on behalf of the crewmen and a variety of creditors seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars to cover back pay, repair bills, fuel, supplies and services.
The case has generated a 5-inch-thick file of claims, counterclaims, affidavits and orders - and a phalanx of lawyers to sort it all out.
Just determining who owns the ship proved to be a challenge. It was finally found to be a Liberian-registered company that operates out of an office in Panama.
U.S. marshals have ``arrested'' the ship so it can't leave Hampton Roads until the claims are settled. The pier at the terminal was needed for other work, so last month the Pride of Donegal was moved to an offshore anchorage west of the naval base.
The atmosphere on board during the long wait has been testy at times.
To help defuse the tension, the crew tries to stay busy. Even the normally grimy engine room has been scrubbed until it sparkles.
``If you try to keep yourself busy, you don't have as much time to pay attention to your problems,'' engineer Zeidi said.
The captain left the vessel. Lt. Dan Rotermund, a spokesman for the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Norfolk, said it was ``because he was afraid of personal injury.''
Zeidi had a different take on the departure.
``He ran away, deserted,'' Zeidi said. ``He left all the people on the ship at the mercy of God.''
The chief officer, Abdul Hameed Khan, is technically in charge, but he's laid up with back trouble. With no money for medical care, he spends his days lying on a pallet on the deck of his cabin with a heating pad for the pain.
U.S. District Judge John A. MacKenzie this month ordered that the ship be sold at auction May 30 to pay the claimants.
Benjamin M. Mason, a Newport News lawyer representing the crewmen, said the vessel is appraised at $6 million to $7 million. A Peruvian bank holds a $5.5 million mortgage on it, but under U.S. law the crewmen and local creditors can be paid first, Mason said. But to get paid, the crew has to stay. And there's nothing to do but wait.
Last weekend, at Mason's request, MacKenzie appointed W.J. Browning Co., a Norfolk shipping agent, to keep the ship supplied with food, water, fuel and other necessary supplies until the matter is resolved.
But after six months with no pay, the crewmen have no money to send to their families back home. And since the ship was moved offshore, just communicating with their relatives has been next to impossible. ``It has been a very tough time for them, both physically and emotionally, because of not being able to provide for their families,'' Mason said.
Zeidi had bought an apartment in Pakistan before the voyage. But when his income was cut off, he canceled the deal, even though it cost him 10 percent of the purchase price, so there would be money to keep his three children fed.
``We are eating here, but when we start to eat, we are always thinking of our families,'' Zeidi said. ``What is happening to them? Do they have anything to eat?''
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Landmark News Service. The Pride of Donegal sits inby CNBHampton Roads awaiting auction, the proceeds of which will go to pay
off crew and creditors. 2. The ship's 28 Pakistani and Indian
crewmen haven't seen a paycheck in six months. A water taxi is $150.
So they're stuck. color.