SHARJAH MOON

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Stranded sailors get financial support

Two Indian sailors stranded aboard the "Sharjah Moon" in UAE waters have been assured financial support by their state governments. Vikram Singh and Nayab Singh will receive their pending salaries from their state government’s funds once they reach India. The governments of Punjab and Haryana have allocated funds to compensate the sailors. The vessel with six Indian and one Sri Lankan crew members had been at anchorage in UAE waters since July 2016. The sailors have been stranded with no salary and poor supplies of food, water and fuel. Fed up with the false promises of ship-owner Alco Shipping, the crew docked the vessel in Hamriya Port in Sharjah without permission on May 9, 2017, and sought the help of the Indian Consulate in Dubai through social worker Girish Pant. The mission has been supporting them with food and water supplies and working with the port authorities in the UAE to assist in their immediate signoff. Since there was no sign of the company keeping its promise to pay their pending salaries, without which they refused to fly back home, our ministry had written to the state governments seeking their support for the crew. Last week, the owner of the company told that he would arrange the payment and sign off of all sailors stranded on his vessels by July 15. The consulate and the Sharjah Port Authority, however, have helped the captain of the ship to fly home as he was willing to leave without the salary to attend his brother’s marriage. On July 4, the mission also provided fresh water to the vessel "Ocean Pride" that has been at anchorage off Hamriya Port for two years. The sailors said they had no water for last 20 days and the company also delayed giving permission to accept the water sent by the mission.

Stranded Indian sailor wants to see his parents

Dubai: The scorching summer heat is becoming unbearable for Subith K. Sukumaran, an Indian oiler on board the vessel MV Sharjah Moon that has docked at Hamriya Port in Sharjah. But the heat that is burning inside is more agonising for the 24-year-old from Kerala who has not seen his ageing parents and younger brother for almost three years. “I came on a one-year contract and worked for 24 months. After that only I had requested for sign off. I have been trying to go home for eight months since then. I want to see my parents. But the company is not sending me,” he told Gulf News over phone. Every week, he said, the company promises to pay his pending salaries and send him home. But that remains a promise. “They have not paid me for 16 months. Three months ago my mother fell ill. The company didn’t give me a penny to send home. I can’t even make calls to my parents,” he said, with a choked voice. Harindra Singh, another oiler, lost his father last year. He has also been frustrated because he is not allowed to go home and is in a bad psychological condition. The ship’s captain Jayaprakash Badri said the vessel with six Indian and one Sri Lankan crew members had been at anchorage in UAE waters since July 2016. http://www.bhatkallys.com/gulf/stranded-indian-sailor-wants-see-parents/