Tonight, in an unusual - possibly unprecedented move, Government has taken possession of an international cargo vessel, the CFS Palencia.
The reason? Well, because the ship's owners owe - we are told unofficially - almost ten million dollars in fines for another ship that rammed into Belize's reef.
That ship was the Paranga and in July of 2012, it ran aground 2 miles southeast of English Caye. Information at the time was that the Port Authority allowed the ship to leave based on certain assurances that it would return and settle any fines arising.
But, apparently it didn't - and so Government worked out a strategy to get its pound of flesh. The Palencia - which is owned by the same company visits Belize very regularly. And so government today got a court order signed by the Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin and went to the pier head at the Port of Belize this afternoon where the Palencia was unloading its cargo.
They gave a court order to the Port of Belize with instructions that the ship is to be piloted to a specific location with crew and cargo - and it will be held there under police and port guard until the ownership company make arrangements to settle the outstanding fine, which, we understand is 9.6 million dollars.
So, with that police boarded the vessel around 5:00 this evening to accompany it to that anchorage location. Due to the late breaking nature of the story, we could not reach Ports Commissioner Merlene Bailey Martinez.
If the name Palencia sounds familiar, it should. Last week the ship was in the news when the Port of Belize Crane fell on it.
Tonight, it remains anchored at a secure location, in what for the time being remains an indefinite stop. It had offloaded all its Belize Cargo, but the court order was delivered just as it was taking on cargo. We'll keep following the story.
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