Seafarers stuck for months on vessels carrying Australian coal off China’s coast are trapped between authorities who won’t let them unload their cargoes and buyers who won’t let them leave. Worsening relations between Beijing and Canberra have stranded 74 vessels, about 8.1 million tons of coal, and an estimated 1,480 mariners off Chinese ports, according to an analysis of shipping data by Bloomberg. The original charterer of two of the vessels wants them to sail somewhere else to relieve the exhausted seafarers, but so far the traders who own the cargo won’t agree.
“It’s the end receiver who has not given the green light” for the Jag Anand vessel to sail to another country where it could change crews, said Jan Dieleman, the president of Cargill Inc.’s ocean transportation business. The Minneapolis-based company is the original charterer of that ship and the Navios Coral vessel, which have both been moored off the port of Jingtang since June, waiting to discharge their loads of Australian coal.
The Jag Anand’s crew told port authorities it was ready to unload when it arrived and the holder of the bill of lading has said the ship must discharge its cargo before departing, according to Dieleman. He declined to identify the end receiver of the cargo, but said that if the ship attempted to depart for another country to swap crews without their approval, the vessel could be arrested and seafarers imprisoned. “We want to get these people not just off the ship, we want to get them home,” said Dieleman.
Tangshan Baichi Trading Co. is the receiver of the coal on the two vessels, although the firm could have subsequently resold the cargoes to other end users, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The company is the region’s biggest coal importer and owns three coal washers, a coking plant and has an investment unit focused on domestic coal and coke futures, according to its website.
Calls to the company’s office in Tangshan city went unanswered. China’s General Administration of Customs didn’t immediately respond to faxed questions.