Nekton expedition vessel owner settles fuel bill dues
Nekton chartered the vessel from Ocean Conservation Exploration and Education Foundation (OCCF) for the UK marine foundation's deep sea expedition in Maldives.
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By
Ahmed Naaif
Dues for a fuel bill on Odyssey, the main vessel chartered for the recently-concluded Nekton Maldives undersea expedition, has been settled in full, vessel owner said Wednesday.
A Maldivian court barred the vessel from leaving the country earlier this week after a major Maldivian oil company that provided diesel to the vessel appealed with the Civil Court to issue a temporary order to detain Odyssey while it was on its way departing from the Maldives.
According to the Civil Court order:
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The oil company filed a lawsuit against the vessel's owner Ocean Conservation Exploration and Education Foundation (OCCF) for failing to pay for 105,000 litres of diesel sold to Odyssey
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USD 186,900 (MVR 2.8 million) has not been paid
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The fuel bill was sent to the address requested by the vessel owner and asked it to pay by the end of September
In a statement, OCCF said the outstanding fuel bill on OCEEF’s account that caused the vessel to be detained has been paid in full and the creditors have withdrawn the court order.
"The unpaid fuel bill and the related court order was the responsibility of OCEEF and Nekton have no responsibility. Nekton’s charter concluded on 7 October prior to the court order," the statement read.
"OCEEF would like to apologise unreservedly to the government of Maldives, Nekton and partners for any and all inconvenience and problems this issue has caused."
Nekton issued a similar statement on Monday saying that the fuel bill was not its responsibility and that its charter of the vessel had ended on 7 October.
The Odyssey visited different parts of the country during the Nekton Maldives Mission organised by the government of Maldives and the UK-based marine foundation Nekton from September 4 to October 5. Scientists from 10 countries, including the Maldives, took part in the expedition.
Nekton Mission:
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295 square kilometres of sea floor mapped
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453 hours were spent totally, underwater
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554 samples were taken; 186 species of fish and 201 of other sea creatures
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Scientists from 10 countries participated
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20 terabytes of video footage and other data collected
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