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Viewing cable 09VLADIVOSTOK30, CAPTAIN OF SUNK CHINESE VESSEL IN HOSPITAL, AWAITING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09VLADIVOSTOK30 2009-03-02 05:37 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Vladivostok
R 020537Z MAR 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1096
INFO MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
UNCLAS VLADIVOSTOK 000030 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON RS
SUBJECT: CAPTAIN OF SUNK CHINESE VESSEL IN HOSPITAL, AWAITING 
PROSECUTION 
 
1.  Russian Border Guard Patrol boats on February 19 fired upon 
a Chinese cargo vessel making an unauthorized departure from the 
Far East Russian port of Nakhodka.  The ship, which was involved 
in a trade dispute with a local company, was damaged and sank 
when caught in rough weather. Border Guards rescued three of the 
ten sailors who had escaped the sinking ship, but the rest -- 
Chinese and Indonesian -- were lost at sea and are presumed 
drowned.  The rescued crewmembers have left Russia, but the 
captain of the ship, who has been at a local hospital since the 
incident, will be detained during the investigation of the 
incident and may face up to two years in prison. 
 
2.  The New Star vessel, owned by the Chinese shipping company 
Zhejiang, was contracted to deliver rice to Nakhodka on January 
29.  The recipient, Russian rice and fruit importer 
Prodporgramma-Impuls (Novosibirsk), refused to accept the 
shipment, stating that 400 tons of the 5,000-ton rice shipment 
was damaged and unusable.  The company was planning to file a 
claim in a local court for compensation in the amount of 12.3 
million rubles (USD 410,000) for the rice, asserting that that 
the ship was in bad shape and that the shipping company was 
negligent. 
 
3.  In response, the head of the Zhejiang Shipping Company 
ordered the New Star captain to flee the port -- presumably 
because he did not think there was a chance of winning the case. 
 The ship left port before receiving documents authorizing it to 
set sail, thereby prompting the chase.  A contact told the 
Consulate that it is quite common for detained ships to escape 
from port successfully -- usually the Border Guards do not send 
ships to pursue.  The fact that ships took the unusual step of 
pursuing the escaping boat, he said, could indicate some 
"business ties" (either established or 'temporary') between the 
company and the border authorities.  The contact further stated 
that the contracting company's plans to take the case to the 
Primorskiy Kray Arbitration Court instead of the International 
Arbitration court may indicate the Russian company hoped to 
receive the confiscated ship -- built only three years ago -- as 
compensation. 
 
4.  Both the shipping company and the contractor have been 
accused of impropriety in the past.  Progdrogramm-Impuls was 
involved in a similar, perhaps fraudulent, case last year. 
After making a claim for damaged and unusable rice from a 
different shipper, the company received USD 200,000 from the 
Ingosstrakh insurance company and USD 580,000 from the shipper. 
Local media have reported that the shipping company faced 
criminal charges last year when an illegal shipment of mercury 
was found onboard at the Ukrainian port of Feodosia. 
 
5.  The captain of the ship has filed an appeal to the 
Vladivostok representative of the International Transportation 
Federation (ITF) to help obtain compensation for the surviving 
crewmembers. The ITF stated it intends to conduct consultations 
with Russian colleagues on how to best assist the captain and 
his crew, and is demanding a fair investigation of the case. 
 
ARMBRUSTER