The fate of Indian sailors of the Norwegian-flagged very large crude oil carrier MT Heroic Idun that was arrested in the Equatorial Guinea waters in August hangs in the balance.
The oil carrier was arrested by the Equatorial Guinea Navy at the instance of their Nigerian counterparts on August 12. Reportedly, the vessel had on board 26 sailors, including 16 from India, who have been detained since then. Reports say there are plans to hand the sailors over to Nigeria for likely prosecution.
A WhatsApp video call that Kochi-based Sanu Jose, chief officer of the tanker who is among the detainees, managed to have with his wife Metilda on Tuesday morning drove home the desperate state of the detainees. “He [Sanu Jose] said that 15 of them had been locked up in a room aboard the tanker without food and water and under heavy security. They are consuming water from the washbasin, exposing them to epidemics like typhoid and malaria. The chief engineer of the carrier is in a very bad condition and has been complaining of chest pain over the past couple of days,” said Ms. Metilda.
She said that the detainees were petrified about their potential handover to Nigeria and were wondering whether they would ever be able to return home. Mr. Jose was pleading for the intervention of the Indian authorities to rescue them.
“The call was connected after repeated attempts and he was saying that the mobile phone was about to run out of charge. He also expressed apprehension that the phone may be seized,” she said. Mr. Jose had joined the tanker in mid-May.
Other crew of Heroic Idun too shared videos and images with their family and friends seeking help. In a video believed to have been shared by Captain Tanuj Mehta, master of the vessel, he said that the crew got transferred to the Malabo detention centre and that their fate remained uncertain.
The Nigerian authorities accused the carrier of entering their maritime limits without any clearance and attempting to illegally lift crude oil from their Akpo Oilfield. MT Heroic Idun had arrived at the oilfield on August 7 and a day later a Nigerian Navy Inshore Patrol Craft interrogated the captain of the vessel.
Reportedly, the vessel was ordered to follow the craft to an anchorage point where it was supposed to wait till receiving clearance for loading crude oil. However, the captain of the vessel allegedly declined to follow the order after contacting the shipping agent on suspicion of it being a ploy by pirates who are active in the region. The vessel sped off and sent out a pirate attack alert. Subsequently, the Nigerian Navy tracked down the vessel using their surveillance facility and alerted their Equatorial Guinea counterparts who arrested the vessel.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his urgent intervention to secure the release of the crew. “The delay in release would affect the mental and physical health of the crew members and further stay in the port which is considered unsafe would also put their lives in danger,” he wrote.
Source: Hellenic Shipping News
