Paul Russ Incident Update 1

Reference is made to our previous exchanges regarding to the  grounding incident of MV. Paul Russ.
On September 9, 2014 at 0630 hours local time, MV. Paul Russ V.011E ran aground in the Port of Saipan. It was also noted that the Pilot was onboard the vessel at the time of the incident.
A subsequent general assessment was made in the vessel’s vicinity. The divers have sighted that some undetonated World War II explosive ordinance under the vessel. Upon discover of this news, The United
States Coast Guard (USCG) took overall command of the situation immediately. USCG Captain of the Port has issued an immediate order for the vessel crew to abandon ship for the sake of the safety of the
crew. A 500 yard safety zone was also implemented. With this development, Ship Owners have declared General Average. Please refer to their notice as follows:
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As advised before, for safety reasons after the discovery of ammunition around the vessel the US Coast Guard and the port captain of Saipan have ordered the master and the entire crew to leave the vessel. The
master and crew followed the orders of the authorities already and have safely arrived ashore. Under the given circumstances, there is nothing Owners can do than do wait for the outcome of the safety assessment by the US authorities. However, the preparation of the salvage operation is continuing and once the authorities allow the crew to return to the ship, the salvage operation will commence under the control of the salvage company T&T.  Owners have decided to declare General Average and have appointed Stichling, Hahn, Hilbrich (SHH) as adjuster. SHH will get in contact with charterers soon to obtain the GA securities.
ppa. Tom J. Sommerwerck – Director – Döhle Assekuranzkontor Gmbh & Co. KG
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Please inform your cargo insurer of the above GA declaration, and request the cargo insurer to provide the GA security which will be requested by Owners later. Should you fail to provide security in a timely manner and delays arise, we hereby place you on notice and hold you liable for all the consequent losses and/or damage that we may suffer.

All our rights remain fully reserved.

We will provide an update again when it is available.

For more information, please kindly contact your nearest MEL office.

Click Here for the Downloadable Version of the Statement On Paul Russ Incident

For The Australia Office Details See below

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MARIANA SHIPPING PTY LTD – SYDNEY