Ritesh Kumar, the second engineer on MV Skopelos I, and his vessel have been in the anchorage at Bayuquan, China, since September loaded with Australian coal. Since Beijing has banned Australian coal imports, his ship, along with many others are stranded off various Chinese ports, reports Times Of India.
“Our vessel has nine Indian crew members (among other nationalities) including the master. Some of us have served on the ship for 10-14 months, well beyond our contractual periods. Alongside our vessel, there are over 70 vessels at various Chinese ports, serving as a floating prison to multiple other Indian seafarers.”
Two more vessels being tracked
His vessel is not on top of the mind of the Indian government. They are tracking two other vessels — an Indian flagship MV Jag Anand which is anchored near Jingtang port in Hebei province since June 13 with 23 Indians as crew on board.
A second ship, MV Anastasia, which has 16 Indians as its crew, is on anchorage near Caofeidian port since September 20. But there are many other ships flying under flags of other nations with Indian crew members manning them.
The Chinese government is refusing to allow the ships to offload their cargo. The government is also refusing to permit crew changes. As a result, many crew members have been on board their ships for over 16 months, which is not allowed by international maritime rules.
Mental Trauma For the Seafarers
Ritesh said, “We haven’t been able to take shore leave at the ports we have been to due to the pandemic. Communication with families has been limited. This is causing inhuman working environments and mental trauma for the seafarers.”
Amitabh Kumar, director-general shipping, said, they had spoken to the Chinese maritime authority, but had only received one response from a deputy minister.
“The trouble is, they can’t go to any other port unless expressly allowed by the Chinese government. Since their cargo is intended for a Chinese buyer, if these vessels leave they will be arrested,” Kumar said. “Every week we speak to owners, unions, and seafarers, to try and do what we can.”
The MEA is now engaged in a diplomatic exercise to get the Chinese government to allow a crew change, “but it’s complicated due to the Chinese travel and entry restrictions” said officials involved. After many rounds of conversations they said, the Chinese “have outlined a procedure (for crew change) but the rules are designed to frustrate the procedure”.
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Source: Times Of India
