AsiaEuropeOffshoreOperations

Malaviya Twenty OSV finally leaves UK shores 28 months after being arrested

A ship that arguably drew more attention to the plight of crew abandonment than any other has finally left UK shores to restart work under new owners.

The Malaviya Twenty OSV was arrested in Great Yarmouth in June 2016 over its Indian owner’s unpaid port fees and crew wages.

The crew’s hardships were covered extensively in the mainstream press alerting the general public, especially in the UK, for the first time about the scourge of crew abandonment, a phenomenon that spiked during the middle of this decade.

The ship was bought by Greece’s Laskaradis Shipping last month, and the crew were released to return home. A first auction earlier this year had failed to get any decent bids. The ship has now been renamed Typhoon.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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