Black Bart crew face long wait for wages

By MATHEW DEARNALEY

Heiko Ebeling and Gunter Schuldt have had a long and lonely watch on Black Bart, a ship arrested in Auckland in the tradition of its outlaw namesake.

The German officers were the only crew left to look after the Vanuatu-flagged islands trading vessel, its name taken from a 19th century stagecoach robber, when its cook and six other Filipino sailors were flown home in July without their wages.

They remain victims of a bust-up between the ship's agent and its German captain, Helmut Lohmann, who are effectively joint owners through an overseas nominee company but who face losing the vessel on Friday under a High Court auction order.

Proceeds are to be divided among creditors, including stevedores, equipment suppliers and a Chatham Islands service station owner who has an $88,000 diesel cargo stuck in the ship's hold.

The crew and officers are expected to be treated as preferential creditors, but could have to wait many months.

Chathams fuel distributor John Sutherland could not be reached for comment yesterday on speculation about a possible offer from his direction.

Another Chathams resident said there was not yet any shortage of diesel, as a second ship supplies the islands from Napier and Timaru.

Mr Ebeling, the ship's first officer, said it was heartbreaking to be stranded at Jellicoe Wharf.

"It's better to be at sea - the air is much cleaner," said the 50-year-old from near Hamburg, who has been a sailor all his working life but who has spent the past six months languishing in Auckland.

He and engineer Mr Schuldt, aged 60, had to dip into their modest savings to feed themselves before a lawyer acting for them and Captain Lohmann persuaded the High Court to approve the restoration of supplies as a cost against the arrest.

Captain Lohmann and his Filipina partner share an Auckland address, and therefore do not live on the ship. Yesterday he told the Herald that the vessel represented his life savings and he could not afford to bid for it.

He wondered why no auction reserve price had been set for the ship, formerly the Ngamaru 3, which he bought for $568,000 last year from receivers of the failed Cook Islands National Line and refurbished for more than $1 million.

But a legal source said creditors were protected by a High Court appraisal order, which is believed to have led to a valuation of more than $750,000.

This would effectively become a reserve price, unless a judge consented to any lower price, the source said.

Mr Ebeling says he is owed about US$15,000 ($31,000) in unpaid wages from when he joined the ship seven months ago, while Mr Schuldt is claiming about US$40,000 ($83,000) from twice as long with the vessel, including voyages to the Chathams and more tropical Pacific states.

Neither has direct dependants in Germany, although Mr Ebeling says he is behind in child support obligations from a former marriage and had to turn down an offer of a job as a ship's master to keep his wages claim alive against Black Bart.

His only break from the monotony of his watch, which includes maintenance duties, is an occasional foray to the Seafarers' Mission for coffee and a chat.

International Transport Federation co-ordinator Kathy Whelan, who is representing the Filipino crew, said all of them remained jobless back home with their families. They were sending her increasingly desperate emails asking when they would be paid.

Captain Lohmann says he is as much a victim as the crew of an alleged failure by the ship's Auckland agent, BB Shipping (NZ), to secure enough business, and that he is owed US$91,000 ($188,000) in wages.

But BB Shipping head Paul McSherry says it is owed $356,000, and he accuses rival shipping companies of anti-competitive practices in blocking Black Bart from Pacific trade lanes after the captain spent too much on refurbishment.

Further reading
nzherald.co.nz/marine