Crew stuck for 10 months on Jan De Nul dredger

The crew has been rotated, with Mexico promising to ensure their mental wellbeing following a request from Luxembourg to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).

Jan De Nul Group said it would “continue to take all possible actions to protect its crew, to reserve its rights over its assets and to obtain a release of the Zheng He”.

The detention

Zheng He, a 138.5m LOA cutter section dredger built in 2010, was contracted for dredging projects in The Bahamas, but to avoid the hurricane season it temporarily relocated to the Gulf of Mexico, planning to return to The Bahamas by December 2023.

It made a scheduled stop at the Port of Tampico for crew changes, garbage removal and maintenance, actions recognised under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

But on 1 November 2023, Mexican authorities conducted a sudden search and detained the vessel, classifying it as foreign ‘merchandise’ that should have been imported into Mexico.

Jan De Nul Group has always disputed this classification as unlawful and unprecedented.

Despite a favourable court ruling on 25 March 2024, confirming the Zheng He’s legal status and identifying irregularities in the search, the vessel has still not been released.

In February 2024, the vessel was declared property of the Mexican Federal tax authorities and a tax fine of more than 1.6 billion MXN (approximately €78 million) was imposed.

Jan De Nul Group, supported by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, said it continues to pursue all available legal avenues to secure the release of Zheng He and protect its crew.