Only one fact is clear: Myo Tun Zaw, 50, the captain of the container ship Spirit of Hamburg, was murdered while it was anchored off Cartagena, Colombia. His body was found on deck about 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 16.
After that, stories differ. In one version, he was killed by members of his crew. In another, he was killed by an intruder.
Captain Zaw’s body was examined by a forensics team in Cartagena, and the local media reported he was killed by members of his crew. Colombian authorities were investigating.
The Spirit of Hamburg, a 833-feet-long ship built in 2007, is flagged in the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man Registry said that Colombian authorities have jurisdiction over the ship.
On Saturday, Zeaborn Ship Management, which operates the vessel, said that Captain Zaw “suffered fatal injuries following what is believed to be a violent incident with an intruder,” although it added that “the exact circumstances of the violent incident are yet unknown.”
There are 21 crew on board the Spirit of Hamburg; they are from Myanmar, Ethiopia and Russia. Captain Zaw is from Myanmar.
On Monday, Zeaborn issued another statement, saying that “officers and crew on board and all of us on shore share (his family’s) grief and are asking ourselves what happened and why.”
Zeaborn also said, “As the official investigation is still ongoing, we have no further information on the culprit(s) of this terrible crime. In the meantime, we have noticed a lot of speculation on social media and in some of the traditional press on what might have happened. As long as the authorities have not finished their investigation and announced official results, we believe it is inappropriate to draw any conclusions which are not only premature but also are extremely upsetting for our crew and their families at home.” Read more:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/colombian-authorities-investigate-ship-captains-death
