THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502040282
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
The northern breeze whipping down Granby Street Friday must have chilled the enthusiasm of the seven bidders who came from around the world to try to buy the Taxiarchis.
Only three of the bidders made offers for the Greek freighter, which has been stuck in the port of Hampton Roads for seven months.
After a few minutes of spiritless bidding, U.S. Marshal Frederick J. Cox declared the vessel sold for a $310,000, little more than the $225,000 minimum bid. One observer, a local shipping agent, expected the ship to fetch at least $500,000.
Aleck Tembelis of Fairfield Shipping Co. Ltd., based in Piraeus, Greece, was the buyer.
``I'm going to repair it and put it to work,'' Tembelis said.
He estimated that the ship, designed to carry bulk items like wheat and sugar, will need about $400,000 of repairs and other work in a local shipyard before sailing again.
Tembelis, who owns four smaller ships, hired T. Parker Host Inc. to be the ship's local agent and handle its business in Hampton Roads.
The 361-foot vessel and its crew have been laid up at a pier in Newport News since June when its engines failed and the Coast Guard deemed the 25-year-old ship unsafe. It had been en route to Canada from Puerto Rico with its hold full of sugar.
U.S. Marshals arrested the Taxiarchis on Aug. 12 after a Dutch fuel company sued the owners for lack of payment. The ship's Greek owners had stopped paying any bills or its crew's salaries.
The 17-man crew sued the owners in December for back pay.
Federal Judge J. Calvert Clark ordered the ship sold at auction to pay its debts, which amount to more than $300,000.
``There's not going to be enough money to cover all the claims,'' said Benjamin M. Mason, the attorney representing the crew.
Other creditors include A/S Dan-Bunkering Ltd., the Dutch fuel company; Hampton Roads Wharf Co., which owns the pier where the ship has been tied up; Hasler & Co., theagency that represented the ship when it first came to port; and Lantic Sugar of Canada, which owned the cargo.
The U.S. Marshal's office will be among the first paid out of the proceeds of the sale. It is owed about $25,000 for expenses.
The judge will divide up the rest between the creditors.
The crew, which is owed about $100,000 in back pay, not including penalties, will probably get paid next, Mason said.
The multinational crew has had a very difficult time. The vessel's captain and first officer flew home to Greece in November, leaving the crew behind to fend for itself. With the aid of International Seamen's Friend House in Newport News, the crew had to go begging in the port for food and fuel to sustain it.
``We have been abandoned by the owners,'' the crew wrote in a letter asking for help. ``We have no pay, food or power. We continue to work and take care of the ship because no one has told us to do otherwise.''
The Taxiarchis had been owned by Kent Trading Corp. of Piraeus, Greece, and operated by Euston Shipping Co. Ltd. of Cyprus.
Now that the Taxiarchis is being sold, the crew should be able to go home in a week to 10 days, Mason said. The crew includes sailors from Greece, Honduras, Guatemala, Romania, Pakistan and the Philippines.
``I'm very happy,'' said George Dimitropoulos, the ship's first mate. ``We're finally finished here. . . . If they pay my salaries, I'll go home.'' ILLUSTRATION: MOTOYA NAKAMURA/Staff photos
Only three of seven potential bidders made offers for the Greek
freighter, which has been laid up at a Newport News pier since June,
when its engines failed. The Coast Guard then deemed the ship
unsafe.
by CNB