Stranded in dead ships far away, Indian seafarers look for a ray of hope

Stranded in dead ships far away, Indian seafarers look for a ray of hope
TNN | Apr 18, 2018 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/stranded-in-dead-ships-...

MADURAI: Sailors Daniel Rangoli from Tirunelveli, Jebalan Siluvai Antony from Tuticorin and Issac Felix Creado from Mumbai had joined the merchant navy with a lot of hope. Their families had borrowed heavily to realise the dreams of their wards, hoping that their career will bring them the much sought after prosperity. However, lured by manpower agents, these youngsters have now landed in two dead ships without any salary or other benefits.
Their plight came to light when they sought help through WhatsApp messages, urging authorities of the Sailor’s Society to rescue them from these dead ships.

While Rangoli and Creado are aboard MT Al Nouf, a tanker ship anchored on Dubai outer anchorage, Antony is aboard another dead ship, MT City Elite.

In his WhatsApp message, Rangoli narrates that he had paid Rs 2 lakh to a manpower agency to get placed in the ship with an assurance that the ship will sail in three months. It has been eight months and the ship has not sailed and there is no sign of it going anywhere.

In a detailed message, Creado says that there are five people aboard Al Nouf - three Indians and two Sri Lankans - and they have found out that the vessel has not sailed for the last two to three years. They are without any provisions for the last two months and surviving on an emergency generator running six hours in a day. The ship is in total black out and none of the safety equipment is in working condition in case something untoward happens. Creado has been on the ship for the last six months and has not been paid salary from the time he joined.

After learning of his plight, his father Felix Creado, a pensioner at Mumbai is running from pillar to post to save his son. “I have approached every office pertaining to shipping industry here to save my son but there is no response from anyone. The amount of mental agony we undergo is unbearable especially my wife is suffering with high blood pressure. We are not bothered about anything but safety of our son and want him to come back,” he told TOI over phone.

Manoj Joy, chaplain of Sailors Society, an organisation for the welfare of seafaring people says that this is not first incident where sailors from the country have landed in these dead ships.

These ships are called dead because they are sort of written off by shipping companies but the minimum crew is required to keep them afloat, where the gullible youngsters aspiring a career in merchant navy fall prey to manpower agencies.

“It is distressing to see that in spite of the Maritime Labour Convention is in force, our seafarers are treated like modern day slaves on board some ships. The ill-treatment, poor living conditions on board, paucity of food and non-payment of wages for several months creates mental trauma and the seafarers at times resort to dangerous measures such as suicide. The seafarer goes into depression with these issues and we at Sailors Society are very concerned about the mental well-being of the seafarers on board such ships. We are in touch with the crew and trying to help them out,” he said.