Morale bad, says officer on Little Russel ship
MORALE on board the MV Jireh is bad, said the ship’s second officer yesterday afternoon, as the crew prepared to enter their 11th day anchored in the Little Russel, with just nine days of supplies left.
Although they have sufficient drinking water, it is being rationed so it can act as ballast to keep the ship stable and make the wait more comfortable for the nine men on board, said second officer Mikhail.
They have not been paid for months.
The crew would be happier if they could be given permission to enter St Peter Port Harbour, he said.
‘I hope the harbour master of St Peter Port will give us permission to come into the port,’ he said. ‘We will comply with your local regulations. We will stay on the boat all the time.
‘Our problem number one is that we want to put vessel in a safe place... after that we will discuss about provisions and fresh water.
‘We have nine days of supplies. After that, no provisions.’
He was concerned that the vessel had only one anchor and one engine, which could cause problems if either failed in the poor weather conditions.
A statement issued by Guernsey Harbours said that it was unable to accommodate the vessel in the harbour due to a lack of suitable berths.
The Guernsey Press spoke to the vessel crew yesterday afternoon.
The boat left Norway on 28 October and eventually arrived off Guernsey on 13 November, after being refused permission to dock in Jersey since it did not have a handling agent and spent time sheltering off Normandy.
After it anchored in the Russel, clothing and food supplied by the Red Cross and the local Co-op was ferried to the men. Calls to both organisations confirmed that no extra supplies have been provided by them since.
Mikhail said the crew is waiting for an international inspector to go on board to discuss the problems: ‘We’ve discussed it with our owner but we’ve not had any useful information.’
There is also the issue that the crew has not been paid for two months, he said: ‘On 2 December we hope we will get our money,’ he said. ‘The crew mood is very bad.’
Given the vessel’s shallow draft of 3.5m, Mikhail said the crew is waiting for weather conditions in the Bay of Biscay to improve enough for the Jireh to cross: ‘The weather is very bad,’ he said.
A spokesman for Guernsey Harbours said that the former passenger and vehicle ferry was on its way from Norway to Dakar, Senegal, in West Africa.
‘The vessel indicated it had stopped its passage south due to poor weather conditions forecast along its planned route,’ he said.
‘Whilst the ship has sought permission to berth alongside and to possibly extend its stay. Guernsey Harbours is unable to accommodate the vessel, as we have no suitable berths available that would not disrupt port operations.’
Jireh is 45metres long – by comparison the Condor Liberation is 102 metres and the Sark Belle 21 metres.
‘Guernsey Harbours is seeking further clarification on the vessel’s future intentions, and remains in regular contact with the crew.’
The boat was previously called Strandebarm and operated in the Norwegian fjords. It was recently sold to Herald Marine and Energy Ltd in Senegal.
Efforts to contact the new owners were unsuccessful, and a visit to its listed website revealed that it had been hacked.
