The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Ship crew caught in a tug of war

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 10, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

Ship crew caught in a tug of war

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: MT Malakas, a Panama flag tug, at the Kochi port for nearly a year now, has been ordered to be detained here by the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, Kochi, till further orders.

The court order comes as a big relief to the five Sri Lankan crew members, who are on board the tug, waiting to be paid their wages and allowances, said a statement issued by the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) Inspectorate in Kochi on Thursday.

The tug had developed engine trouble in high seas and was brought to the Kochi port after the crew sent distress messages.

The crew was taken care of for a couple of months through the vessel’s agents. The master and the chief engineer, along with two ratings, were repatriated in September 2008.

According to the ITF statement, the remaining members of the crew, all of them Sri Lankan nationals, have not been paid their wages and allowances for more than a year now. The condition of life in the vessel is bad and the crew has appealed to the ITF Inspectorate to intervene on their behalf.

P.M. Mohammed Haneef, leader, dockers section of ITF, and working president of Cochin Port Staff Association, contacted the owner and owner’s agent in Colombo with assistance from the deputy conservator of the Cochin Port Trust and principal officer, mercantile marine department here.

Since there was no response from the tug’s owner, the ITF Inspectorate approached the court seeking wages, sustenance and repatriation. The ITF has prayed for substantial compensation along with pending wages and repatriation.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala