Filipino crew stranded in Canada harbor since Sept. are in good condition

The Hanjin Vienna with 13 Filipino crewmen on board has been stranded in a Vancouver harbor since September due to Hanjin Shipping/s legal troubles. SHIPSPOTTING

SAN FRANCISCO — Thirteen Filipino crew of a detained container ship near Vancouver, Canada, are in good condition and many of them whose contracts are ending are eager to go home to the Philippines, the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement Tuesday, Jan. 17.

Hanjin Vienna’s crewmember have been stranded since Sept. 1 last year after it was detained in connection with the legal trouble currently rocking the South Korean shipping company. It is moored at Vancouver’s Inner Harbour Anchorage.

The 280-meter container ship is owned and managed by Hamburg-based Reederei NSB but is chartered by Hanjin Shipping.

Hanjin Shipping went in to receivership at the end of August and Hanjin Vienna, which was on its way to Seattle, has been in legal limbo ever since.

Staff of the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver visited the Filipino crew on Jan. 15 to check on their condition and to get updates on the current status of the ship.

The DFA said Consul Rogelio Villanueva Jr. met with Captain Hans-Ruediger Kroeger and was able to talk with the Filipino crew “who are all in good condition and who have enough supplies and food onboard,” the DFA said.