Detained ship auctioned, renamed and released
After a stay of almost two years in Antwerp, the "City of Antwerp", 2017, left in silence on Aug 25. The ship would be on its way to Turkey. It was detained in Antwerp at the end of September 2015 for a boycott against the Lebanese owner Abou Merhi. The USA suspected him of involvement in drug trafficking. Even though he was released in May, the ship eventually was auctioned. Experts believed that the 'dead ship' after two years was ripe for demolition and gave it a scrap value of 1.3 million Euros. After all, the tailgate had to be restored. An anonymous buyer, with a mailbox address in Liberia, offered 2.26 million Euro at the end of June during an auction by Antwerp bailiff Marc Beerten. Throughout the summer there were all kinds of teams on the ship in the Hansa dock in the weather to pick up the ship. In the meantime, the ship was renamed 'Kassie'. It was now under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. After the green light from the Belgian Port State Control, the "Kassie" sailed at 2.45 p.m. and heading with 8 knots to the Gulf of Biscay on its way to the Turkish port city of Yalova, ETA Sep 9, for repairs.
