Fined container ship permitted to leave

A container ship that ran aground off the east coast of Male’ in early January and was fined MVR 61.6 million for damage to the area’s reef has been permitted to leave after providing a bank guarantee, reports local media.

During an investigation into the incident, the Maldivian Transit Authority prohibited the Auguste Schulte from leaving the country.

The ship’s operator, Silver Company, has said it plans to carry out its own investigation into damage sustained to the reef before paying the fine, transit authority Chair Rasheed Nafiz has previously claimed.

“As keeping the ship here would cause major losses to the company, we have given the green light for the ship to leave after the bank guarantee was given,” Nafiz explained to Haveeru.

Previously, a ship operated by Delmas – the same company local media reported as owning Auguste Schulte – was stranded in the same area for 20 days.

Mohammed Nabeel, Managing Director of Silver Company, told local media that the compensation claim for that previous ship was set at MVR 4.5 million (US$ 291,828), adding that the contrast between the two figures is “remarkable”.

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