Indian Crew Of Suez Canal Grounded Ship ‘MV Ever Given’ To Face Legal Charges?
Nearly a week’s logjam in global trade ends, with the refloating of the Suez Canal grounded ship Ever Given. However, things are not looking good for its Indian crew who might face legal charges.
The grounded cargo ship has an all Indian crew who were lauded for their efforts during this 6 day rescue efforts. However now they are in a crossfire as the 25 Indian crew of the ship don’t know how the canal authorities will treat them.
The seafarers are concerned over the legal issues that they might be facing including criminal charges for the incident.
The Indian government too is worried about these legal issues
Industry experts say that there are chances of restraining the captain and some of the crew from further travel. They are likely to be under house arrest till the investigation ends and plausible cause for grounding is found.
As of yet, the crew and the captain haven’t been briefed about the legal issues by the ship management company in charge of the ship .
“There is a clear danger that the crew will be made scapegoats,” a senior shipping industry expert said
According to Captain Sanjay Prashar, member, National Shipping Board (NSB) that the facts need to be examined and analysed to ascertain the cause of grounding.
“Firstly, it has to be ascertained as to how the giant ship ran aground. Facts can be checked by examining and listening to conversation in the ship voyage data recorder and one can come to an understanding as to what caused the mishap”, said Sanjay Prashar.
Reference: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
