FOR as long as anyone can remember, the captain's log has been filled with the same daily entry.
'Crew working usual seamen's jobs.' it reads. 'Regular sea watch.' But the entry is not exactly accurate, 30-year-old Captain Vahid Sinanovic points out. His six crew aboard the C Blanco have, in fact, no work to do. And their 'sea watch' is by no means regular.
'I write that to keep myself busy every day,' Captain Sinanovic explains. 'I have to imagine that I am still in charge of the ship and that we are still working, or else I will go insane.' Captain Sinanovic, his second mate, his chief engineer and his four other crew-members are from Montenegro, the last of two eastern European republics that remain part of rump Yugoslavia.
Their 17,191-tonne Maltese-registered ship has been in Hong Kong since June 1, 1993. That was the day it was detained by local authorities complying with United Nations Security Council Resolution 820, banning international businesses from making money for Yugoslavia.
Investigators in Hong Kong and in the United States believe the ship was defying the sanctions order by earning about US$2 million (HK$15.4 million) a year in revenue for the country, under its flag of convenience.
The C Blanco was impounded on its return to the territory from Fangcheng, China, when it arrived empty for a crew change and to stock up on supplies. It has remained moored near Stonecutters Island ever since.
