A Ranchi-based engineer, who had been in the captivity of Egyptian navy since March 22, has returned home to tell the horror story of over a dozen Indians in their tanker ship B Elephant.
2nd Engineer Amit Kumar Sinha was released along with four others from Engineers' wing by the Egyptian authorities while detaining 18 of the crew members from the navigation side on June 22.
He said that as many as 12 Indian crew members have been held up in Egypt in their tanker ship 'B Elephant' for the last three months and are not being allowed to move out. Despite requests made to the Indian Embassy to intervene in the matter, nothing positive has come out yet and the crew members are stranded in Alexandria under Egyptian territory without any movements.
It is suspected by the Egyptian Navy that the vessel has damaged the internet submarine cable in Alexandria territorial waters on March 22 this year following which the ship was seized by the Egyptian navy on March 28.
Amit's family took a sigh of relief after he reached home on June 24 after a sail of four months and 15 days. No crew has signed off from vessel Since March 28, he said.
Meanwhile, in an e- mail sent to The Pioneer, the crew members of B Elephant have also requested to help them in signing off from vessel as some of them have completed more than one year on board and almost all of them have also completed the contract period.
"It is totally unfair to keep holding the crew from signing off. We have no schedule when this embargo will be lifted and vessel is set free to sail," stated the letter.
In the beginning, there were total of 18 crew members on board but five of them from the Engineers' wing were released on June 22-23 saying they have nothing to do.
The Egyptian Navy was also requested several times by the captain through the local agents (GAC and BARWIl) to allow full crew change & free access to vessel assuring them that the vessel would not move from its current position until claims are proved or settled.
The captain is even ready to stay there letting other crew members go. "It appears that Egyptian navy has overpowered IMO maritime rules for crew freedom and they have stopped any crew change since arrest on March 28," stated the letter.
Although all the ship's staff is waiting to join the ship but the repeated requests of crew change has been cancelled due to Egyptian Navy's embargo.
Explaining the horror story on the ship, Kumar said the crew members are totally frustrated, tired, demoralised and overworked due to unusual and prolonged stay onboard.
"The Egyptian Navy is not even allowing proper food supply to the ship," said Kumar.
Even if the vessel is not released due to substantial claims made by Egyptian Navy & Egyptian Telecom, onboard crew has all rights to enjoy freedom of signing off and signing on from the ship. This is due to International Maritime Organization's (IMO) international rules that any property damage should be settled with the owners or the insurers without harassment made to the crew for the same.
"A claim of 40 million dollars has been made by the Egyptian Navy against the damage caused by the ship while the ship itself costs over 150 million dollars. Moreover, there is no provision that the crew members could be arrested against any damage caused by the ship unless he has committed any crime against the law of the land," said Amit.
The Indians on board have no idea what to do and where to go as they are not getting any positive response from the Indian Embassy.
Some of the members onboard also have some urgent issues at home which need to be attended soon. They have demanded immediate intervention by the Indian Embassy so that they can be released soon and go to their homes.
"Owner and insurers are in process of negotiations with Egyptian authorities and a case is also in progress in Alexandria Court which could take many years. Ship's officers and crew have complete freedom from such claims and no authority should hold crew on ship for such cases," stated the letter to the Indian Embassy written by the crew members.