For the past 10 months the Zheng He, a dredger owned by the Flemish company Jan De Nul has been unable to leave Mexico. A dispute over a 96-million-euro customs charge is the reason why the Mexican authorities are not allowing the ship to leave. The 36-strong crew of the Zheng He are not allowed to leave the vessel. This is despite a Mexican court having ruled that the ship can depart.
Flemish company’s dredging ship unable to leave Mexico; “Strange that the Mexican authorities are ignoring a court ruling”
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In 2023 the one of the world’s largest dredging vessels, Jan De Nul’s Zheng He, set sail from the Bahama for the Mexican port of Tampico.
It is not clear why the ship sailed to Mexico, although the authorities in Luxembourg where the Zheng He is registered say the reasons were purely maritime (change of crew, refueling and maintenance).
The Mexican authorities have their doubts about this and say that the ship's arrival in Mexico is a matter for customs. As the ship allegedly didn’t have the correct customs documents, the Mexican authorities consider the vessel to be an “imported good” that is liable for import duty. The amount of import duty demanded by Mexico is 96 million euro. This is what the Mexicans says the Zheng He is worth.
36-strong crew on board fort he past 10 months
Jan De Nul and the authorities in Luxembourg don’t agree and have been refusing to pay the 96 million for the past 10 months. This has meant that the 36-strong crew of the Zheng He have been unable to leave the ship.
The Antwerp University transport economist Christa Sys told VRT News that large ships always have an extra stock of supplies so that their crew has enough water and food if they have to remain on board for longer than expected. However, it has now been 10 months and “If their supplies have been exhausted there is a real problem because the Mexicans are ensuring that nothing or nobody can get onto or leave the ship”.
Mexico ignores court ruling
The case has already been before a Mexican court. The court ruled the ship and above all the crew should be allowed to leave. "The Luxembourg authorities brought the case before a Mexican court and it ruled that the Mexican authorities were wrong. However, Mexico still won’t release the ship", Christa Sys said.
In June Luxembourg took the case to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. However, the tribunal decided not to take any action. It didn’t see any urgency of getting the crew off the vessel.
Nevertheless, the tribunal will still have to make a final ruling on the case. What that will be remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the vessel remaining tied up on a Mexican quayside is costing Jan De Nul a lot of money.