Ray Smuts
COMING FOR a short visit and then staying for almost six years is stretching things somewhat, even in shipping terms, but the Russian tug Tigr, under arrest until recently yet still embroiled in massive litigation, will soon relinquish valuable berthing in the Port of Cape Town to head for new waters..... and new owners.
Maritime attorney Gavin Fitzmaurice of the Cape law firm Findlay and Tait confirmed last week he had exercised his power of attorney mandate to make a successful bid of US$625 000 for the ocean-going tug on behalf of Deep Blue Shipping Navigation Limited of Gibraltar.
The auction sale, conducted in the Mother City by Captain Roy Martin of the Durban firm Admiralty Ship Sales, absolves the vessel of all liens and encumbrances.
It is alleged in ongoing litigation in South Africa and Europe that the tug was ultimately owned by the Government of Azerbaijan, an independent Russian state, when disaster struck one stormy day off Cape Town.
Tigr was towing a huge barge, the Bos 400, from West Africa to Cape Town for refurbishing when its engine allegedly became defective, resulting in the barge breaking free and grounding near Sandy Bay - most famous for its nude bathing - on June 26 1994. The barge has been deemed unsalvagable despite numerous attempts.
Claims against the 2 737 gross ton Tigr by the Bos 400's owners total the equivalant of 450 million French Francs (more than R4 million) alone but FTW learnt that further claims including interest brings the total to around R900 million.
Tigr, since renamed Cape Point - rather appropriate seeing she has spent so much time in the Cape - has run up a bill of more than R1 million in port and other dues since her arrival in June 1994.
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