Ever Given crew cannot be 'held to ransom': What's got the 26-member Indian crew of the ship stuck in limbo?

Ever Given crew cannot be 'held to ransom': What's got the 26-member Indian crew of the ship stuck in limbo?
Apr 23, 2021 https://www.timesnownews.com/international/article/ever-given-crew-canno...

The crew now finds itself the unfortunate victims of a legal dispute between Egyptian authorities and the Ever Given's owners and operators.

Its been several weeks since the Ever Given container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal blocking one of the world's busiest shipping lanes but, while the world may have moved on following its dislodging, the nightmare might just be beginning for the 26 Indian nationals on board that make up her crew.

The crew is effectively stuck on board the ship currently moored in an artificial lake along the Suez. They now find themselves the unfortunate victims of a legal dispute between Egyptian authorities and the Ever Given's owners and operators. Egyptian authorities have impounded the ship as the state-owned Suez Canal Authority (SCA) demand a staggering $916 million in damages from Japanese owner Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.

With the company opting to fight against the lawsuit, it remains unclear when exactly the ship's crew will be permitted to disembark. Expressing concern over the fate of the crew, Abdulgani Serang, head of the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) told the Guardian, “These are professionals who had nothing to do with this incident and should not be held to ransom.”

Although one may find it difficult to conceive a reality where members of a ship's crew are stranded or abandoned on it, the situation is surprisingly common and typically borne out of pay disputes, management problems and disappearing owners.

In fact, according to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), which keeps a database of these incidents, there were, at least, 31 cases of abandonment between January and August 2020, involving 470 seafarers. Since 2004, the IMO has logged 438 such cases affecting over 5,700 seafarers.

But a rescue operation that garnered international headlines for weeks has now morphed into a bitter legal dispute. Having impounded the ship, the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) asserted that they will refuse to let her crew go until the full sum is paid.

UK P&I, the maritime insurance company representing the Panamanian-flagged ship, noted, “The SCA has not provided a detailed justification for this extraordinarily large claim, which includes a $300 million claim for a 'salvage bonus' and a $300 million claim for 'loss of reputation.” It called into question the SCA's claim that its reputation had been damaged by the incident.

The sum that the SCA is demanding is viewed by the maritime insurance community as hugely inflated, Lloyd's list has previously reported. In an opinion editorial, the maritime publication stated, “Behind the scenes, the feeling is very much that the sum sought is not just silly, but simply outrageous.”

That, however, will come as little respite to the crew who can do little but hope for an unlikely speedy resolution to the matter. With multiple parties involved, from international corporations to insurance companies to government agencies, the legal battle ahead is a complex one and could, reportedly, take several years.

The unfortunate reality is that, despite seafarers being essential to the smooth functioning of global trade, their rights are ignored in such matters. “Seafarers aren't a priority when there's conflict,” said Mohamed Arrachedi, a coordinator at the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), an umbrella union representing seafarers.