Stranded in Guyana, twelve Indian seafarers seek govt intervention

Twelve Indian seafarers, including the master and crew of the MV Sea Lion, a Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged cargo ship owned by Sea Lion Shipping of Turkey, have been abandoned by the company at the Port of Georgetown, in the South America country of Guyana.

 They are now seeking the intervention of the Indian government to facilitate their repatriation, according to International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). 

Their contracts have expired and they were at sea for eight to 14 months. The company declined their repeated requests for repatriation and has withheld several months’ wages. 

Subsequently, Kollam native Adwaith Saravanan, an able seaman on board, filed a complaint with ITF inspectorate at Kochi on February 16, requesting its intervention to get their rights reinstated. Adwaith and Joemon from Wayanad are the two Malayalis in the group.  

The ITF inspectorate attempted to contact the crew manager and designated person ashore (DPA) of the vessel in Istanbul, Turkey. The ITF inspector sent a mail to the DPA on February 21 demanding him to arrange immediate repatriation for the crew and payment of pending wages. “However, there has been no response from the company. Besides, we tried contacting the Mumbai-based agent, who had recruited the seafarers but have not been able to get through to him. The ship was unseaworthy.

SOS from crew
We request the state and Union governments to intervene in the matter earnestly and make arrangements to bring back the crew to their native country without further hardships.