The government, through the Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA), announced that it had embarked on the exercise of removing two ships abandoned in Malindi.
The two vessels were abandoned in 2020 by a foreign tycoon of Korean descent and have been an eyesore to the community ever since.
KMA DG Julius Koech, in the Gazette Notice, noted that the vessels were an obstruction and danger to navigation and their removal was paramount.
"A declaration is issued under section 323 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2009 that the two marine motor vessels, previously known as AHADI 001 and AHADI 002, are abandoned on the coast at Malindi, Kilifi County, and are an obstruction and danger to navigation and a threat to the marine environment. The Director-General has taken possession of the said vessels and shall remove them per section 322 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2009," read the notice in part.
The notice took effect on Friday, October 25.
In 2020, 15 seafarers lamented that they were left stranded on a ship in Kilifi without proper remuneration.
In a separate incident a year later, 16 other seafarers lamented that their ship's owner abandoned them after the vessel docked at the Malindi Jetty.
The crew consisted of three individuals drawn from South Korea, Six from Indonesia, and the rest from Vietnam, according to a report by Nation.
The ship was abandoned by their Korean employer as well as the vessel's captain and engineer shortly after it docked at the Malindi Jetty.
The seafarers lamented that they were not paid their 3-month salaries valued at millions of shillings.
“We are appealing to the government to intervene and bring these people to book because we have been left without food and other necessities since our employer owes us more than Sh1.9 million in salaries that he has not paid for the last three months,” Kennedy Otieno, one of the seafarers, lamented at the time.
In 2022, the seafarers were awarded Ksh45 million after reaching an agreement with the vessel's owner. They had lived on the vessel for more than two years at the time.
