Indian Captain and Crew Cry Out for Help

Ship & crew left in lurch since 2019. MV Sai Arambh likely to sink in Colombo Port

Padmesh Prabhune

Captain Mushtaq Ahmed Kapde, Master of the M.V. Sai Arambh has written to ITF Colombo seeking help for his 19-member crew stuck on board since October 2019. The vessel currently is docked inside Colombo Port and is in a very bad state and deteriorating. It could sink anytime as the engine room has flooded time and again.

According to Capt Kapde, the M.V. Sai Arambh (IMO 9115456, MMSI 419001377 ), with a 19-member crew, arrived at Colombo Port under tow on October 13, 2019, was berthed at Colombo Dockyard repair yard till January 2020, and subsequently detained on a court order after the crew complained of non-payment of wages among several other issues.

The vessel has already been auctioned some two months ago through a court order but the local bidder has so far failed to deposit the money. Also to make matters worse the bidders have now backed out and are not willing to purchase the vessel through the High Court there. Capt Kapde has been requesting authorities to call on the second bidder, but to no avail.

With literally no basic facilities on board the Captain and crew are suffering due to poor health, safety, and welfare conditions, along with ongoing loss of wages and serious stress building up over time. Earlier, 15 crew members left the country for India but the captain and the remaining crew cannot abandon the vessel according to maritime laws and legal requirements.

Confirms CE Suresh Manjrekar, the then Chief Engineer on Sai Arambh who was one among the 15 who managed to return to India in December 2019. Manjrekar said, “It is very unfortunate to see our colleagues left in the lurch and we are eagerly waiting to have them back safely.”

ITF along with the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka, and the Mission to Seamen, provided relief to the crew for nearly four years but it is now long enough and Capt Kapde along with his team are still unable to sign off, thanks to the procedural protocol involved.

While the officials have been maintaining regular follow-ups, the Sri Lankan Director General of Merchant Shipping, Ajith Wijesinghe, said that the captain and crew cannot be allowed to leave the vessel until there is a replacement and the authorities are not in a position to hire Seafarers themselves, owing to lack of funds, while shipping companies are not prepared to offer crew on a credit basis.

Capt Kapde maintains the vessel’s owner- SPS Marine, earlier based in Mumbai, not only refused to pay the wages of the crew, but are also not cooperating with the authorities. They have even shut their office, which has added to these long delays of years.

Marex Media