The “Taganrog” crew is confident the tanker is unseaworthy

The 1983-built vessel would  easily sink during it's voyage for ship-breaking yard. The crew of the “Taganrog”  (flag of Russia, IMO 8129606, 1983-built) anchored outside the port of Vladivostok applied to the Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR) stating that  the vessel they are charged  to move for demolition site is  absolutely unseawothy due to many technical malfunctions. The technical condition of the  "Taganrog" is so bad  that the vesel would  easily sink while sailing. 

According to the “Taganrog” chief engineer's report  sent  to EM-Shipping, the ship's generators  are  in a critical condition,  oil pressure drops under increasing  loads,  protection system  activates and the ship becomes disabled. Water enters main engine cylinder,  drainage pumps of  engine room don't work, bilge water tank is full. And this is not the whole list of malfunctions, indicating that the ship is in a critical condition.

Nevertheless, on August 30, the crew made an attempt to leave the port of Vladivostok. However, due to the unseaworthy and the lack of sufficient fuel for the  Taganrog's planned passage they had to return to the port. On top of that, the weather has worsened, and the crew are rightly fear for their lives.

However, according to the crew, the ship operator, Vladivostok company EM-Shipping, does not plan to make repairs necessary for the safe passage of the tanker to the place of demolition.

In this regard, the SUR has appealed to the Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office and to Mr. A.V. Vanyukov, the Harbour Master of Port Vladivostok, with a request to conduct an inspection of the tanker, which is currently at the anchorage of the port of Vladivostok. If the crew's fears are confirmed during the inspection the tanker should be detained until all deficiencies are corrected. Otherwise, “the sailing of this vessel may lead to an emergency and, as a result, threaten the life and health of the crew members, as well as environmental damage,” - the SUR's appeal stated. 

The copy of this letter was sent to the Border Directorate of the FSB of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky region.

Note that according to the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping  database, the classification documents of the tanker “Taganrog” and the ISM Code Certificate have been suspended as  their validity period  expired. According to the Equasis database, the tanker status from August 24, 2020 is “set for demolition” .

“Taking into account the above, we require to conduct an inspection of the  tanker “Taganrog” to determine  a seaworthiness of the ship and avoid a possible tragedy,” said Yury Sukhorukov, SUR Chairman.