A court sale of a Murmansk Shipping cargoship has been called off in South Africa after the Russian owner paid a debt.
Law firm Shepstone & Wylie told TradeWinds its client had been paid and would not be seeking confirmation of the judicial auction set for 3 July.
The South African high court had slapped a sale order on the 10,500-dwt Ivan Papanin (built 1990) that was holed off Antarctica in February.
It has been docked in Cape Town since April.
The applicant in the case was Cape Town Ship Suppliers & Exporters, while the respondents included Murmansk Shipping, the sheriff for Cape Town East district and India's National Centre for Antarctic & Ocean Research.
Murmansk Shipping has been contacted for comment.
In February, the ship was holed in Antarctica after hitting an underwater object.
It suffered water ingress after the hull breach.
The Indian Antarctic mission received a report that the ship was damaged when it departed its Bharati station.
About 100 people were evacuated from the vessel.
Five pumps tackled the leak, the press service of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute reported.
No injuries were reported.
