Boat Sails From One Storm Into Another : Dispute: San Pedro fisherman needs second rescue to get his craft back from impound in a Mexican salvage yard.

Nine months have passed since Salvatore Russo and his fishing crew got caught in a hurricane so ferocious that when they radioed for help, the U.S. Coast Guard told them that only God could save them.

The miracle materialized, but now Russo could use another.

Since the harrowing episode 180 miles off Baja California, culminating when he and his crew were rescued by a Panamanian merchant ship, Russo has been locked in a struggle with a La Paz, Mexico, salvage company that recovered his boat, the Tootur, and will not give it back.

The dispute has reached international proportions, involving a lawsuit in Mexico City, intervention by the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana. At the core of it is the Tootur, Russo’s life’s work.

A stocky man with bright blue eyes and a thick Italian accent, Russo, 65, has made his living on fishing boats since he was a boy in Sicily. He never had much schooling, he confides, so he reads and writes only a bit. But he can catch tuna with the best of them.

Russo came with his family to the United States at age 10. He worked for years on other San Pedro fishing boats before finally earning enough money to buy his own boat. As his fishing prospered over the years, Russo bought and sold a succession of ever-larger boats. His fifth and latest is the Tootur, a 72-foot-long, dark blue purse-seiner.

“I learned from my grandfather. He was the best fisherman in the whole world,” Russo said, standing in his basement, surrounded by family mementos and nautical gear. Then he pointed to a photo of himself aboard the Tootur: “Isn’t she a beauty?”

English words fail Russo as he tries to explain how he, a simple fisherman, is now caught in a morass of international treaties, lawsuits, legal and travel expenses. Russo and his wife, Gloria, say they have spent about $200,000 of their savings on legal fees, living expenses and trips to Mexico while the boat sits idle.

“We’re not making a living,” Gloria Russo said. “Not at all.”

Her husband nodded in agreement and said: “Not, not.”

Initially, the Russos offered $50,000 and then $65,000 to the Mexican salvage company, AFIN Casa de Bolsa, for the return of his boat. Last week he offered $100,000 as salvage compensation. But in reply, the company faxed him a letter from the captain of the port, Humbert Carrillo Zavala, saying Russo would have to pay about $320,000 to get the Tootur back.

Originally assessed at $420,000, the boat’s value has depreciated rapidly while anchored in La Paz. The Russos have made three trips to La Paz to see the boat. They say more than $150,000 of equipment has been stripped from the Tootur, lowering the vessel’s value to about $240,000.

The Tootur is named for Russo’s son, who died of cancer at age 22.

“When he dies, my son, I’m so depressed and I say, ‘I don’t wanna go fishing now,’ ” Russo said. “But then they say maybe we name the boat for him and fish again. And we had pretty good luck. We were comfortable. And now we lost everything . . . again.”

In October, the La Paz salvage company filed suit in Mexican courts against Russo, demanding that he pay the full salvage costs. Russo has filed a countersuit against the salvage company and La Paz’s captain of the port, alleging that the boat is being held illegally.

The case has been bouncing between the Mexico City and La Paz courts ever since.

But there is hope. Initially, the U.S. government saw the Russos’ case as a dispute between citizens of two different countries, not an international dispute, and took no action.

Now, however, U.S. officials believe the Russos have exhausted all reasonable channels to get their boat back. The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City have begun contacting Mexican officials on Russo’s behalf.

Also, the faxed letter from the captain of the port in La Paz that the Russos turned over to the State Department last week, bears the official seal of the Mexican federal government. That lends weight to the Russos’ assertion that they are wrestling not with just a salvage company, but with a foreign government.

“We don’t want to raise any expectations unnecessarily, but we have made representations to Mexican authorities and we really feel some urgency about assisting them in getting their boat back,” said a State Department spokesman. “We feel that the issue should have been resolvable by negotiation by Mr. Russo and the salvor, but various problems have arisen.”

In assisting Russo, the State Department is reviewing international treaties between the United States and Mexico, some of which date back to 1910. Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Consulate in Tijuana are seeking explanations from Mexican officials about why the Mexican courts have not heard the case.

“My initial assessment is that the other side in this litigation is seeking to hold out for the highest possible amount,” said Paul Kline of the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana. “What we’re trying to do is help the Russos find out (whether) the other side might be abusing the Mexican court system.

“Bear in mind that civil litigation in the States also takes a long time, so we want to see if the Mexicans have a good explanation for why the case is being handled the way it is,” Kline said.

The U.S. government’s requests for information have so far gone unanswered, according to Kline. The AFIN Casa de Bolsa salvage company and officials with the port of La Paz did not return telephone calls for this story. For its part, the La Paz Extra newspaper in Mexico has blasted Port of La Paz officials in editorials, saying they have violated international law.

Meanwhile, the Russos do not have use of their boat.

The coffee table in the Russos’ Walker Street home is piled with letters written to government officials, some by the Russos and others by friends.

“I even wrote to Ross Perot,” Sal Russo said. “We wrote to Bush when he was there in office. He wouldn’t answer us.”

Said Gloria Russo: “We were hoping to leave this boat to our children. All our work has been useless because (the salvage company) wants to keep it. If it would’ve been sunk, it would’ve been different.”