Icelandic trawlers Breki and Páll Pálsson are steaming home to Iceland from the yard in China where they were handed over to their owners, and are more than half-way through their long delivery trip – and have left ‘Marlboro Territory’ behind after clearing Suez.
According to Breki’s skipper Magnús Ríkarðsson, around 50 cartons of Marlboros were called for to ensure that they got through the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean without any problems, including 15 cartons on one occasion.
‘Practically everyone we have had to deal with needed a carton of Marlboros so we could get through. The largest batch was 15 cartons. The alternative was a $6000 – 7000 fine for not meeting some imaginary standards,’ he said.
‘Even a health certificate so we could fly the healthy ship flag cost a carton. The demands for Marlboros began in Sri Lanka and got steadily heavier as we passed through the Suez Canal.’
Breki and Páll Pálsson have called at Malta and are now steaming through the western Mediterranean towards Gibraltar and from there into the Atlantic, and the regular Marlboro tax is now behind them…
