India Orders Cocaine Smuggling Bulker Sold as Owners Appear to Abandon Ship

The case of a Panama-registered, Vietnamese-owned bulker seized in India took a further unusual turn nine months after the ship was first detained on suspicion of smuggling cocaine. The owners have failed to post a bond or pay port fees while the crew was stranded for months and one engineer jumped overboard in frustration.

India’s High Court in Orissa ordered on August 22 that the vessel named Debi (37,000 dwt and built in 2012) begin a process for a court-ordered sale to pay its port fees. The owner has been contesting the charges contending it was only liable for the fees for the first few days before the Indian authorities detained the ship in December 2023.

The sorted case began in November when the bulker arrived at the port of Paradip in eastern India. It was sailing from Indonesia to Denmark to transport a load of steel plate. Arriving on November 30, when the vessel moved from the anchorage to the dock, a port worker went aboard to assist with crane operations and noticed what appeared to be packages attached to the top of the crane in a position not visible from deck. Fearing they might be explosives, they were reported to the port authority.

A search of the vessel found the packages were attached by magnets. An examination and later testing discovered that they in fact were bundles of cocaine. In total, 22 kilos of cocaine were seized with a street value of $26 million. The crew of 21 crewmembers from Vietnam were also ordered detained while the investigation began.

The vessel was placed in the anchorage in Paradip. In January, the vessel’s third engineer jumped overboard reportedly suffering from depression from the long period the ship had been idle. Media reports speculated it was an unsuccessful suicide attempt as he was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The court finally agreed to release the vessel on February 12 but ordered the Vietnamese owners to post a bond of approximately $12 million and provide a bank guarantee of approximately $1.2 million before the vessel would be permitted to depart. Media reports also indicated that 10 individuals, including three of the Vietnamese crew, six crane operators from Paradip port, and a manager from the stevedoring agency were all being investigated for possible involvement in the smuggling scheme.

Paradip International Cargo Terminal however also went to court demanding a payment of approximately $950,000 for “berth and penal berth charges.” The company was fighting the fees, but the court notes they were otherwise accruing on a daily basis.

Having failed to make the payments, the Debi remains in Paradip port and now the court has decided it is time to sell the vessel to pay the assessments. Surveyors have been ordered to review the ship and set values both for further trading or scrapping. Their report is due to the court by September 21.

Unless the owners can settle the fees by then, it is anticipated the court will proceed with selling the vessel. There was no word in the latest reports on the status of the crew and if they remained aboard the vessel nine months after it was first detained.