THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, April 8, 1995 TAG: 9504080246
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHRISTOPHER DINSMORE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Seventeen foreign seamen stuck in Newport News since June will be going home soon, but not without a bitter taste in their mouths.
An out-of-court settlement will give the merchant sailors about 75 percent of their lost wages, said Alice Reese Thomas, executive director of the International Seamen's Friend House in Newport News.
They'll have to pay their own way home out of the settlement money, Thomas said.
The mixed-nationality crew had been fighting in federal court for back wages, penalties and repatriation. They settled for less Thursday when it became apparent that the court might give them nothing.
``It's just a raw deal. . . ,'' Thomas said. ``I'm real disappointed in our judicial system.''
The sailors were stranded in the port when their ship, the Taxiarchis, was abandoned by its Greek owners.
En route to Canada from Puerto Rico with a load of sugar, the Taxiarchis entered the port in June with engine troubles. The vessel's owners abandoned it and the crew in Newport News. The ship was ultimately seized and sold at auction in February to pay creditors.
It looked as if the crew might head home soon after that, but their back pay got tied up in federal court as the various creditors of the Taxiarchis fought for payment.
There are nearly $2 million in claims, including the crew's $108,000, against the $310,000 the ship brought at auction.
The crew settled with other creditors for about $67,500, Thomas said.
``It was either settle yesterday or go into court and perhaps get nothing,'' she said. ``The men are very upset, very frustrated with our legal system.''
While the United States has laws to protect American merchant seamen in similar situations, there's no legal protection for foreign sailors, Thomas said.
Other creditors in the case include A/S Dan-Bunkering Ltd., a Dutch fuel company; Hampton Roads Wharf Co., which owns the pier in Newport News where the ship was tied up for months; Hasler & Co., the agency that represented the ship when it first came to port; and Lantic Sugar of Canada, which owned the cargo.
Since leaving the ship after it was sold in February, the crew has been staying at the Ramada Inn in Newport News, courtesy of the hotel's owner. Their meals were paid for or arranged by the Seamen's Friend House.
Meanwhile, the Taxiarchis sailed March 31 for Mexico, where it will pick up a load of zinc bound for the Black Sea, said David F. Host of T. Parker Host Inc., which represented the vessel's new owners in the port.
After buying the ship at auction, its new owner flew in a new crew. The ship was towed to Colonna's Shipyard Inc. in Norfolk, where it was repaired. It then sat at Lambert's Point Docks in Norfolk for several weeks as repairs were completed, it was inspected and its owner looked for a cargo, Host said. ILLUSTRATION: LAWRENCE JACKSON
Staff
Former crew members of the Taxiarchis were stranded in Newport News
in June when the ship was abandoned by its owners. The foreign
sailors were helped by the Seamen's Friend House.
by CNB