Ryan Leet - please say it ain't so

After nearly a year laid up in Sydney, NS, Ryan Leet, one of Canada's only truly ocean going tugs, has apparently been sold. Although its Canadian registry remains open, international sources indicates "owners unknown" a sure sign that something is afoot.

If that were not bad enough, those same sources list "Malta Towage Ltd" as managers. This is perhaps the most ominous sign of all. Malta Towage Ltd is not to be confused with several other reputable companies with similar names. Instead it is linked to Britannia Shipping of the UK and a notorious Irish criminal convicted of various crimes and misdemeanours in the US and the UK and under suspicion of others in Portugal and Spain. The individual has acted as broker in the sale of several ships that were later arrested for drug smuggling, but has always been acquitted of actual involvment. A recent ship sale he arranged has been barred by a court in Malta when they discovered that he owned both the buying and selling companies, the sale price was well below market value and that the sale would have deprived entitled creditors to a share of the proceeds.

Ryan Leet's (ex Salvor Commander-90, Abeille Provence-87) history has been recounted here before, so I will await further developments before re-hashing it. If I have reported the sale correctly, no good could be expected to come out of it for the tug, bringing a distinguished career to a potentially ruinous end.

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