A Russian Odyssey : Crew Aboard Stranded Tugboat Is Finally Going Home

After a year away from their homes--eight months of it stranded in Los Angeles Harbor with engine problems--the crew of the Russian seagoing tugboat Gigant are going to get their Christmas wish.

They’re going to be deported.

Immigration and Naturalization Service officials said Thursday that the six Russian sailors still aboard the ship must leave the United States because it appears the owners of the stranded ship are not making any progress toward repairing it. The sailors will be leaving Los Angeles--by plane--no later than Monday.

“I have information from the INS that we will (be) getting a letter of deportation,” said Gigant captain Nikolai Finogenov, 45. “As captain I do not want to abandon my ship, but I must comply with INS orders.”

Still, he added, “I will be happy to go home.”

Other Gigant crew members also didn’t seem at all reluctant to finally abandon the ship that has been like a prison for months. The crew members have been restricted to the ship and the adjoining dock since August because their visas had expired.

“I’m ready to go home any minute,” said Alex Novikov, 30, the ship’s first officer, who, like some other crew members, learned to speak English during his stay in L.A. Novikov said he’ll be glad to get home by Christmas--the Russian Orthodox Christmas, that is, which is Jan. 7.

Novikov added, “Please tell all our American friends, ‘Happy Christmas!’ ”

Crew members said conditions aboard the 225-foot tug have gone from bad to worse in recent weeks. The ship’s fuel ran out six days ago, making it impossible to run generators to heat water or cook food, and the only food they have left is what’s been donated by American friends.

And because they can’t operate pumps to shift ballast, the ship is listing 6 degrees to starboard, making walking from starboard to port like climbing a hill.

Life aboard the Gigant, said Finogenov, “is not so pleasant.”

“Our primary concern was the welfare of the crew members,” INS Assistant District Director Lola Parocua said in explaining why the sailors are finally being ordered to leave the country.

Because the Russians’ air fare is being paid by American friends rather than the government, their expulsion from the country is a “friendly deportation,” meaning they will not be barred from returning, Parocua said.

Money for the Russians’ flights home was collected by an American couple: Sarah Lazarus, deputy city attorney for Huntington Beach, and Jim Sutton, a Long Beach police sergeant.

“I’m sure happy to see these guys finally get to go home,” Sutton said. “It’s been a tough year for them.”

Sutton said they are seeking donations to pay the $5,000 credit card bill for the plane tickets.

The fate of the ship is unclear. Parocua said it is unlikely that a Russian relief crew would be allowed to come to Los Angeles to watch over the vessel since there’s been no indication that its Russian owners intend to have it repaired.

The Gigant’s star-crossed saga began last Dec. 24, when the 20-year-old tugboat and its crew of 24 steamed out of its home port of Murmansk on Russia’s northwestern coast, bound for the U.S. West Coast. After crossing the Atlantic and transiting the Panama Canal, the Gigant, which means giant in Russian, sailed to San Francisco and picked up two old merchant ships that were to be towed to China and scrapped.

But in April, two-thirds of the way across the Pacific, the Gigant developed engine trouble. Another Russian tug took over the towing job and the Gigant itself was towed into Los Angeles Harbor and anchored.

Since then, Finogenov has been waiting for the ship’s owners to send an estimated $300,000 to repair the damaged engines.

In July, 16 members of the crew of 24 went home, leaving behind the captain and a skeleton crew.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Russian sailors repatriation fund can send checks to the Long Beach Police Officers Assn., 911 Studebaker Road, Long Beach, 90815, or call (310) 493-4482.