Kanyakumari Collector writes to DG Shipping

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KOCHI: Even as stalemate continues over the fate of eight foreign crew members of mv Mirach, which sank off Kanyakumari coast in t..

KOCHI: Even as stalemate continues over the fate of eight foreign crew members of mv Mirach, which sank off Kanyakumari coast in the first week of April, the Kanyakumari District Collector has written to the Directorate General of Shipping on what action should be taken on the issue. Meanwhile, the International Transport Workers Federation has demanded that the detained crew should be produced before the court.
In a communication to the DG Shipping, Kanyakumari District Collector Rajendra Ratnoo asked whether the latter was preparing any final report on the issue. "Their initial communication was marked as a preliminary report. We have asked whether they are coming up with a final report on the issue. Similarly the DG Shipping has mentioned four conditions which should be fulfilled for issuing clearance for the repatriation of sailors. We have asked whether the conditions have been met," he said. Any further decision, including producing them before the court, depends on the response from the DG Shipping.The International Transport Workers Federation has been planning to take up the issue at the legal level. "It is an apt case of criminalisation of seafarers. The seafarers are being detained by the officials without producing them in the court. The DG Shipping and the district administration have been blaming each other. The crew should have been produced before the court and only based on the court directive they can be detained. They are in a pathetic state," pointed out Sangam Tripathy, assistant regional secretary (Asia Pacific), International Transport Workers Federation.

The opinion was echoed by maritime lawyer Capt A K Bansal. "The crew of mv Mirach should have been presented before the magistrate and detained. Now the officials are violating the law of the land. The crew members, without their passport and travel documents, are virtually stranded. The fact that we have more Indian seafarers stranded abroad than foreign seafarers stranded here, makes the issue more serious," Capt Bansal said.

When contacted, the officials at the Consulate General of Turkey in Mumbai refused to comment. However, they said: "We are aware of the issue. The diplomats here have decided not to respond to the media in this regard."