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‘Please rescue us,’ plead 15 Bangladeshi sailors stranded in Kolkata after shipwreck
Fifteen Bangladeshi sailors have been stranded in Kolkata for a month after their cargo ship sank at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.
Published : 29 April 2022, 07:45 PM
Updated : 29 April 2022, 07:45 PM
They have pleaded with the government to “rescue” them quickly, blaming the indifference of the port authority and the shipowner for the delay in their homecoming.
The owner said the sailors cannot be brought back before all formalities are done.
The ship, MV Marine Trust 01, tilted and sank partially at the port on Mar 24. All 15 crew members were rescued and kept at a hostel in Khidirpur. Its Bangladeshi owner Marine Trust Limited declared the ship abandoned on Apr 23.
The ship’s Chief Engineer Fahim Faisal in a video posted to Facebook on Wednesday said they are barred from leaving the hostel. The sailors are kept under the supervision of the ship’s Indian agent Pennon Shipping Limited.
“Our passports have been seized. We're kind of confined to seven rooms although we've committed no crime,” Fahim told bdnews24.com on Friday.
He said they heard the port authority will not let them go until it gets compensation.
An official from the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata met the sailors on Thursday, he said.
“We're passing our days in frustration. We want to return home and spend the Eid with our families. The owners are trying, but we think they're not trying properly.”
Saiful Islam, executive director of Marine Trust Limited, refuted the allegation of indifference to taking back the sailors. “We're communicating with them regularly through our local agent.”
The sailors travelled without visa under a coastal shipping agreement between India and Bangladesh. Therefore, the Indian authorities took away their passports. “It’s not that they have been detained.”
He hopes it will be possible to bring the sailors back within 10 days.
Commodore AZM Jalal Uddin, director-general of the Department of Shipping, sent a letter to the Indian shipping authorities on Thursday, seeking help for the quick repatriation of the sailors.
He told the Indian authorities that Bangladesh formed a three-member team to investigate the incident and they will visit the accident site soon.
The Kolkata port authorities could not be reached for comment.
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