SACRAMENTO – U.S. Marshals have seized a ship in the Port of Sacramento and arrested its crew over an unpaid $400,000 fuel payment.
Hong Kong-based China Spirit is under arrest at the Port of West Sacramento. The Chinese crew of 21 people is not allowed to leave the ship. The ship was seized on October 18.
I spoke to the captain who was only allowed to go to the end of the gangplank. He said he was warned by the shipowner that the ship could be seized when he arrived from its last port in Ecuador.
Tim Campbell is the president of International Longshore Warehouse Union Local 18. He is also running for West Sacramento City Council.
Campbell has worked to protect the crew on board through this legal process.
“My biggest concern is safety,” Campbell said. “To ensure that the crew on the ship are treated fairly and safely, [to] make sure they have food stores, [and to] ensure that their wages are paid correctly and on time.”
The seizure of the ship stems from a lawsuit filed in federal court. A judge approved the arrest warrant against the ship over claims filed against the ship’s owner and a separate company for failing to pay $408,000 for fuel at a port in the United Arab Emirates.
“So these crew members are actually being held, essentially being held, for what someone else did,” Campbell said.
According to Campbell, this is only the second vessel seizure at the Port of Sacramento in 30 years.
Once the legal dispute is resolved in court, the port workers will begin reloading rice onto this ship to be transported to Jordan.
An attorney for the plaintiffs said they believe payment for that fuel is now being processed.
This ship should be on its way by the end of the week.
