NEW DELHI: Sailors living in squalor for 3 months; owner promises to resolve issue within 10 days.
Twelve stranded Indian sailors have been living without pay and on limited medical, food and water supplies for three months aboard a vessel berthed at the Ajman freezone.
Most of the stranded crew of Happy Success said they have not been paid their salaries for over five months and in some cases six. Crew members also alleged that the supply of diesel, food and drinking water has been irregular.
The vessel’s owner and director, Rohan Hede – of Hede Ferromina’s Pvt Ltd based out of Goa, India – when contacted over the phone said the company is doing everything in their power to clear the paperwork of the employees and send them back to India.
The ship’s local caretaker Cyrus Shipping Services LLC, however, said there is an ongoing standoff between the owner and its crew members, which is why they haven’t been paid for six months.
According to the stranded men, the owner has been unreachable. Safaraj Khan, one of the crew said: “We have limited medical supplies in the ship. Due to the heat and lack of proper air conditioning, the men have suffered deep skin rashes. The condition onboard is very bad, people are losing their mind.”
The stranded crew members include the captain of the ship, Niranjan Das Nripendra, second officer Sarfaraj Khan, chief engineer Ananta Kumar Nandi and nine other crew members.
The men have no way to communicate with the outside world and cannot afford money for telephone calls. The crew cannot exit the port premises, either.
