YANGTZE Fortune, the livestock carrier anchored off the Victorian port of Portland, has been sold and released from arrest.
An Admiralty Marshal of the Australian Federal Court arrested the Liberian-flagged ship (IMO: 9336282) in December last year for outstanding bunker debts.
In January, Justice Angus Stewart ordered the sale of Yangtze Fortune. It was due to be sold in February, but the highest bid for the purchase fell through.
The ship was released from arrest on Tuesday this week (14 March), according to the Federal Court list of ship arrests and releases.
Australian Independent Shipbrokers, which was appointed broker in the sale, has confirmed Yangtze Fortune has now been sold.
In a notice of application to determine priorities, issued 16 March, the Federal Court said the proceeds of the sale, US$6 million, plus US$232,350 and $127,876 in respect of a bunker adjustment, had been paid into court at the Federal Court of Australia New South Wales Registry.
At the time the highest bid fell through, 16 seafarers remained on the Yangtze Fortune. Thirty-six crewmembers were on board at the time of the arrest, and 19 were repatriated in January this year.
At the time of writing, on Thursday evening (16 March), vessel tracking services indicate Yangtze Fortune remains at anchorage off Portland, where it has been since September last year.
