March 4, 1996
Web posted at: 5:30 p.m. EST
From Correspondent Cynthia Tornquist
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Sreto Petrovic peers out of the cargo ship, gazing at the New York City skyline.
His dreams, however, carry him across the Atlantic -- a journey he and his crew mates have been waiting to take for more than four years.
"What I can do? Nothing," says the captain.
Four years ago, the cargo ship Lovcen sailed from former Yugoslavia to pick up a load of lumber in New York. But after the vessel left its home base, the United Nations slapped economic sanctions on the Yugoslav republics of Serbia and Montenegro.
The ship was caught in the middle of the international embargo. Since then, the Lovcen and more than two dozen other ships around the world have been impounded.
Peter Renehan is the American representative of the Montenegran company that owns the Lovcen. He says the ship has been detained "unfairly." (85K AIFF sound or 85K WAV sound)
"They were worried about how they were going to be received in the port. They were unsure as to why they were being held," said the Rev. Jean Smith of Seaman's Church Institute.
While most of the Lovcen's 25 crewmen were reassigned to other ships, a crew of six, including Petrovic, have remained on board to maintain the 490-foot vessel. But much of that time has been spent waiting out the war, smoking cigarettes and watching television.
Technically, the ship, and not its crew, is confined to the port. But the crewmen have no visas so they must stay put.
Now, after years of sitting at the New York dock, the ship's radio officer is going home. But home offers little comfort. He lost his house, his wife and son in the conflict.
For the others, good news may be on the horizon -- the sanctions recently were suspended. Unfortunately, the ship is no longer seaworthy, and the owner owes thousands of dollars in docking fees and other expenses.
"If the Serbs are following the order of the Dayton agreement, then I certainly feel that we can get the vessel freed by, hopefully, June," Renehan says.
Until then, the crew will continue to scan the skyline and dream of home.
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