Poland is finally set to move a Russian tanker stuck at the port of Gdynia for nearly eight years.
The 22,700-dwt Khatanga (built 1987) arrived at the port for repairs in 2017, but was stranded by the bankruptcy of its Russian owner, Murmansk Shipping Co, three years later.
Now Poland’s deputy infrastructure minister, Arkadiusz Marchewka, has ordered its removal, he said on X.
News service Notes From Poland reported that the government will seek compensation for the costs involved in its docking. This has been estimated at about PLN 13m ($3.2m).
“We are removing Russian scrap from our port,” Marchewka said.
However, no details have been over where the ship will be taken.
The port’s management lost contact with the insolvency administrator shortly after the bankruptcy.
Last year, Gdynia port director Jacek Kaszuba told broadcaster TVN that technically the ship was not abandoned because it still has a representative.
That meant that “from a legal point of view, we have no possibility of doing anything with it without consulting Murmansk Shipping, or rather the bankruptcy trustee”, he added.
But the new order requires the vessel to be removed “immediately, but no later than three months” from now.
The ministry alleged the tanker posed a threat to the safety of navigation.
Gdynia port vice president Miroslaw Czapiewski told TV network Canal+ the tanker’s moorings had loosened in recent bad weather, meaning it had to be secured by a tugboat.
The Polish Press Agency said the Gdynia maritime authority had also previously raised security concerns about the ship, which it believes could pose an intelligence threat.
One of the grand old names of Russian shipping, Murmansk Shipping was declared bankrupt after struggling with cash flow.
The shipowner was once a major power in Arctic shipping with 30 vessels, but this had been whittled down to 19 as its financial position deteriorated and a number of ships were arrested in ports worldwide after it failed to pay bills.
Creditors included Gazpromneft, GAC Shipping, Sberbank and Arctic Mining Co.
Sberbank was reportedly owed RUB 4.4m ($57m).
Murmansk Shipping suffered a blow in 2008 when it lost the contract to manage the Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet.
The company was founded in 1939. The Russian state retained a 25% stake.
The fleet included offshore vessels, a ferry, three icebreakers, product tankers and handysize bulkers when it collapsed.
Most of the vessels were built in the 1970s and 1980s, the newest being built in 2010.(Copyright)
