Three Indian seafarers have been prevented from leaving an Indonesian island for eight months after they were forced to abandon their leaking ship when it ran aground.
Chief officer Siyaab Salam told TradeWinds that he had not seen his family for more than 14 months after his passport was taken. Salam said he and two colleagues remain in a hotel on the island of Nias and have not been paid for the last four months.
Salam, the ship’s master and its chief engineer, have been questioned by Indonesian authorities, and no criminal charges have been laid against them after they abandoned the Gabon-flagged, 5,000-dwt bitumen tanker Aashi (built 2008) in February.
The ship was steaming from the Oman port of Shinas to Padang, Indonesia, when it started listing and anchored for repairs off the coast of Nias.
The master ordered the crew to take to the lifeboats after the situation worsened in bad weather and rescue boats could not reach the ship, according to Salam.
The other 17 Indian members of the crew have been allowed to return home, but the senior trio have been told to remain behind in Indonesia to assist with the inquiry.
Salam said they have been given no indication of when they might return home and why they continue to be held.
Indonesian investigators said in June that they had finished speaking with the three men and recommended they be flown to Jakarta, according to documents supplied by Salam to TradeWinds.
Indian embassy officials said they would arrange their repatriation from Jakarta, but the men remain in limbo.
A note by India’s embassy in Jakarta said that Indonesian officials told diplomats that the three men were innocent and “have nothing to do with the accident”, according to one document.
The case led to a demand to the Indonesian government earlier this month from India’s director general of shipping, Shyam Jagannathan, for the men’s immediate release.
He said it appeared that the investigation into the incident had been completed.
“Despite this, it is concerning that the seafarers have not been released, even though no formal charges have been raised against them,” he said in a letter to his Indonesian counterpart.
The seafarers are entitled to the “right to a fair trial without undue delay, the right to private and family life, and the right to freedom of movement,” it said.
“Considering the above, it is respectfully urged for the immediate release of the three Indian seafarers.”
Salam said he feared the saga would continue until the wreck of the Aashi is recovered and all costs settled by the vessel’s insurer, which has pledged to settle any payment.
While a second attempt at salvage has been scheduled for next month, there are no guarantees that the operation will go ahead, said Salam, a married man with a young child now aged 20 months.
“We’re under great mental stress,” he said. “Somehow, nothing is happening.”
The Aashi is managed by United Arab Emirates-based Al Phoenix Ship management and owned by Liberian company Aashi Shipping Inc. The company is owned by a Turkish national, according to Indian government documents.
The Indonesian government has been approached for comment.
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