Corruption in India and its relationship to shipping & banking

Much is being made about how Indian politicians and others are terribly correct. Spot on, here are some simple numbers and links:-

What we are really up against is here, this is the one-page synopsis, a longer link can be found through it:-

http://www.gfip.org/storage/gfip/documents/reports/india/india_tip_sheet.pdf

In absolutely brief bearimg + distance, in India, it took, after 1947 Independence:-

#  60 years to steal 210 billion dollars from 1948-2008.
# 3 years to steal another 260 billion dollars from 2008-2011.

Do you and I think this is only corrupt Indians doing this by themselves, that there is no connection between this and the vast number of international banks as well as, pertaining to us Indians, the huge number of ships involved in shipping activities in and around India - even coastal shipping - which are working through tax havens? Here's how the banks do it:-

http://www.undue-diligence.org/Pdf/GW_DueDilligence_FULL_lowres.pdf

How, however, do they do it in shipping? For that, over the last few days, my head is hurting reading the vast volumes of information on how rules and regulations at our very own Directorate General of Shipping aka DGS were nicely tweaked to favour shipowners operating from tax havens AGAINST shipowners operating Indian flag and even shipowners operating known flags of repute.

Fascinating. But if the Red Government can come to an end after 34 years in Kolkata, then how long does this survive in Mumbai??

SITREP: 06may'11 - Indian Government not to negotiate with Somali pirates . . .

Let us try and analyse this dispassionately, though this is difficult after hearing the first hand accounts as well as conveyed accounts of torture and worse onboard RAK AFRIKANA and ASPHALT VENTURE, especially aimed at Indian seafarers. So, some dispassionate observations:-


1)The main negotiator on the ground in Somalia, apparently handling over a dozen ships, is the by now famous "Ali". It has been reported variously that he is of Philipino origin, and travels frequently all over, including on flights that must by geographical fact over-fly India. One way of getting hold of this person. Ofcourse, the banks that are known to support him, as well as the insurance companies, are all also located in India - and it would take just one phone call from the Ministry of Finance or the Reserve Bank of India to have them report to the authorities in Delhi.


(Interesting side observation here - for decades now, DG Shipping has been directly party to supporting the business of shipowners and their cohorts operating through tax havens, by permitting care of type of addresses especially for FOC  ships on which Indian seafarers are sent through DG Shipping channels, using the RPS companies. This, in an observation made to me by a friend in the Finance part of things, is almost like one Government department encouraging tax evasion, and then coming back to the same Government for help when things obviously go wrong. So, investigation possible - who brought about this change, of permitting "care of" kind of untraceable addresses at DG Shipping??)


2) The Government has its stated position, of not negotiating with kidnappers, hijackers, terrorists - but this has been relaxed in the past and is likely to be relaxed in the future too. This will depend a lot on a variety of factors, not least of all the public and media support, which is currently in short supply but slowly building up. The agencies, owners and Government are on the other hand trying to stress to the families that they should not go to the media, with veiled insinuations of various sorts.

(The tactic of telling the seafarers, don't go to the media, is very one-sided and selfish. What the pirates have to do to their victims, they will do, and nothing will change things. The truth, however, has a bad habit of coming out slowly but steadily. And the truth is - psychological trauma from the moment the skiff comes into sight, explosives, AK47s, RPGs, magnetic mines on shipsides, mini-submarines with torpedoes, burning, beating, flaying of skin, cutting off of balls, locking into freezers, keel-hauling, drowning, leaving naked on steel decks, hung upside down, starvation . . .and worse)


3) There is absolutely no post-release de-brief, support, analysis or even database. The approach is the same as after any, say, railway accident - disperse the people, cover up, and if too severe, make a committee for an enquiry report which is of no use. Take a look at the MSC CHITRA / KHALIJA III report, for example.

(The reason for this is simple - any post episode enquiry will force accountability - who was responsible for sending Indian seafarers through official DG Shipping channels, on to these obviously unsafe and unseaworthy ships, not equipped to fight the pirates? It will also bring out the truths on how salaries were not paid, compensation not provided, families not permitted to enter DG Shipping offices, the works.)


4) The owners / agents are safe and secure with their 10000/- rupees per head limitation of liabilities. Salaries are paid if the P&I cover or K&R cover provides for it, which is not the case in more than half the ships currently under hijack, and this includes some that were sent through DG Shipping via RPS companies/agencies. The families, therefore, know this - and keep quiet because each month's allotment amount is like so much for them.


(I have over-heard the absolutely crude and impolite way in which certain agencies and companies speak when the families call up. Maybe it is the fault of the person who picks up the phone, but is it too much to expect that the direct numbers of a senior Designated Person for Families of distressed seafarers be provided, which does not have to go through Board lines and durbans and secretaries and chowkidars and people who have no idea or concern about what is going on?)


5) DG Shipping, the truth is that more than a few families have told me how they have not been able to go past the reception desk, in Jahaz Bhavan Mumbai. Many of us can well believe this. It is easier to meet Ministers and Politicians in Delhi, and surprisingly, they had to reach the office of the Minister of Shipping in Delhi before the DG Shipping condescended to meet them - in Delhi.

(Direct appeal to Mr. S.B Agnihotri - you appear to be fresh here in DG Shipping as DG Shipping - will you wait till Crime Branch of some Police does to DG Shipping what Delhi Police Crime Branch are doing to DGCA? It is lucky that DGS is in Mumbai and there is no office in Delhi - but fact remains, please clean things up.)

6) The larger issue, of impacting India's economy, is still wide open. And the even larger issue of how working closely with FOC ships registered in tax havens worldwide has worked against the interests of Indian flag shipping as well as Indian seafarers, is a scandal and a shame that must be exposed.

More soon.

Another view on helping people impacted by maritime piracy . . .

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/MerchantNavy/message/14172

Re: MNOA/Chandigarh, seminar on maritime piracy

This has become a really long and interesting message set, in the course of the
night while I was away from the internet.

1) I personally do not support donations of any sort for attending conferences
or seminars. If the organisers want somebody that badly, then they pay. If the
person wants to say something that much, he pays. Day in and day out I am
invited to conferences in and around Delhi - corruption, environment, motoring,
media, the whole nine yards - and that has been the standard at the good ones -
and by and large, say what you want, most of these conferences evolve into
networking and co-opting functions. Reality is what people like Anna Hazare do,
everybody pays his own way.

2) The approach here is this - it is the value of the conference that is being
enhanced by the presence of the specific person with something to say. It is
also a cause that goes further if this cost is borne by the organisers.

3) If we have to make donations, then my sincere suggestion, request, advice, is
this:- please start with direct donations to the families of the people onboard
ships, that's my take on the subject. That is as far as looking behind, to help
those already in trouble, is concerned.

4) If we have to do something to fix things, looking ahead, then let us start
closer home, let us first of all openly accept the truths, with open house and
conference/seminar with our very own authorities. When was the last time DGS or
MoS or MUI or NUSI et al chose to hold a two-way dialogue with seafarers and
their families, anybody recall? After the Mangalore AIX crash, there was a
concentrated effort by some pilots and others to get into the whole rotten
aspects of aviation training and certification as well as other aspects of the
Indian aviation business - and the single point they focused was on the corrupt
core - DGCA. I am saying this here and have said it elsewhere - if we want to
fix things for looking ahead - let us get DGS in order. Call them to give
account. Let us fix the training colleges. But we won't do that because the
majority of seafarers ashore depend on this corrupt system to propagate their
own little feathered nests, right?

5) I know Capt. Choudhary quite well, and put it this way - he certainly has the
wherewithal to go for this conference on his own steam if he really wants to, as
he has expressed too. Very good man, and sincere - he went to Chandigarh on his
own steam and did something that most of us have not done - met with families of
piracy victims. Let us start by emulating him - I can help co-ordinate such
gatherings in Mumbai to start with - any takers? Maybe do it in the ballroom at
Seaman's Club, call the media, ask DGS, Shipping Office to send representatives?

+++

So let us have a conference/seminar in India on matters pertaining to DGS. Let
us call not just the usual bunch of nodding heads waiting for lunch and evening
cocktails, let us call established speakers from investigation agencies, other
government departments, legal firms, tax specialists, families of seafarers
affected - and have them answer specific questions out in advance with people
from DGS present to counter the responses.

Let this conference/seminar be live on web, and let it be open to all. Let us
ask the YellowGate Police Station what THEY think about matters pertaining to
piracy, for example?

Today we have a regulatory body called the DGS who is not shy of attending
conferences and seminars everywhere else in the world - when did they last hold
one in India, a really good two-way one, on this subject?

I read day in and day out - of, we don't know who to deal with in the pirate's
lair. Oh, don't go to media. Oh, don't rock the boat. Oh, the shipping
agent/management company will cut off our monthly payments (as a few have done,
by the way, while the owners of these shipmanagement companies don't seem to be
suffering when they attend their CMMI meets in their luxury cars and gold decked
spouses . . .)

But I never hear from DGS for example, and maybe they should put it on their
website too:-

THIS is the agency responsible for such and such FOC flag, we are calling him
here to answer questions.

THIS is the real ship-owner we have issued him summons under our MSA/RP rules to
attend this enquiry.

THIS is the surveyor/inspector from our flag state who went onboard the ship and
said all is well but now the ship has sunk.

THIS is the shipmanager who did not provide proper anti-piracy measures on the
ship he sent people via RPS/DGS.

THIS is the person from DGS who placed a bond value of Rs 10000.oo per seafarer
onboard a foreign flag ship.

THIS is the Union official who has been in the seat for 30 years while
everywhere else terms are being restricted apropos IOA/CWG.

Tell you the truth, we can't even get our own DGS to reply to RTI Applications,
and have to drag them to CIC/Delhi for a response? (That's my own experience,
maybe DGS feels it is still, like INSA, fighting the Government of the day to
assist Indian shipowners - forgetting that the Government of the Day, for better
or for worse, is us?

+++

Conferences and seminars are fine - but the real issue is at home with our own
governance.

And if we have spare money, may I, once again, suggest it goes straight to the
families? Start with asking MNOA/Chandigarh and SAILORS HELPLINE/Kochi, two
organisations which are doing just that, going down to the basics, to give us
names and addresses - and then just get up and send a money order, put the
money in the bank account number, send a cheque, send a parcel with clothes,
send whatever.

+++

Humbly submitted.

Veeresh Malik

Indian Government's Official Position on Maritime Piracy

This is what our kachraa munceepaltee gormint has to say about what their position in context with piracy - you there now, drink your tulsi ka juice, sit in the corner, gormint munceepaltee of the Jahaz Bhavan chowkidar will not let you in but ALL IS WELL? Sorry for the hyperbole, but dealing with the human element of 3 separate sea piracy episodes, is enough to drive people round the bend. And worse.


http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_govt-rules-out-talks-with-pirates_1539467


""decided to "wait and watch" ""


Now I really know why Captain Ramdas K. Menon from the RAK ARIKANA / RAK SINDBAD world in Ras al Khaimah died. His heart literally broke when he heard about the truth. And I know why another very dear batchmate looks and sounds so tense all the time. And why these are some of the realities in connection with piracy, not really revealed . . .

#  balls being burnt off.

# legs being tied with your face in a gunny bag with rats inside being dipped head first into water and AK47s being fired around you.

# being tied naked into the freezer room (minus 17 degrees centigrade) and hung up with your hands behind you.

# fed only plain rice with no salt/veggies/daal anything for 11 months.

# being regularly sodomised or threatened with same.

# owner trying to skim off the insurance money for himself

# being left naked on hot steel decks face down while birds peck you

 

#  And then, come back to India, and die.

 

+++

 

The chiefmost negotiator on the ground, wait for this, the famour "Ali" - is reporedly a Filipino. On to around 8-10 negotiations at any given time.

 

More than one release has been delayed because the various people in between have tried to skim off the insurance ransom pay-out.

 

Families of the ASPHALT VENTURE stranded and distressed officers yet not released have never been contacted by the DG Shipping, and more than once, were unable go up to meet anyone there.

 

And as for the late Capt. Prem Kumar of RAK AFRIKANA, bravest of the brave from 1980-81, his batchmates and he are proving once again the strength of the "batchmate bond" - which is confusing to some, but understood by a few.+

 

 

+++

 

 

I have attended a few piracy seminars, and have now stopped going there, choosing to read up on the reports and papers circulated - as well as network separately. My own association with seafaring and the commercial as well as fiduciary elements of trade including especially shipping also extends to some work done in assisting and providing intelligence on the recovery of moveable stolen assets of any sort - especially when they cross international borders - automobiles is one of them.

 

But I have not been as shaken up as on hearing reports from seafarers, Indian seafarers, returned from piracy episodes, in my whole life, and I have seen some terrible things, like:-

 

# children trapped in a school-bus that went off a bridge and sank underwater in a river.

# college girls being burnt in a bus.

# a man being taken off a bus, beaten and burnt by a crowd.

# been at the New Delhi Railway Station when a post 1984 train came in.

# hangings after stonings in public.

# the trade in human body parts and foetuses

# bodies on the ground after massacre of "natives" in Laurenco du Marques.

 

Many of my friends will say -oh, don't even think of these things. But does that make them go away, does that give the government the right to say "wait and watch".

 

+++

 

What can you do as a seafarer?

 

The option of a "strike" is laughable. Our same wait and watch Government will not think twice before declaring ESMA and arresting a few. In any case, are we united enough to do so?

 

What you can do, however, is this:- work only on ships where flag state provides you some element of safety. The larger issue with piracy is that it is mostly the FOC / tax haven registered kind of ships which are caught and where negotiations are pro-longed.

 

Next, simply avoid and refuse to sail in the affected waters, and if you must - then ensure that your conpany and ship's insurance and P&I provide ample cover. One piracy episode will probably spell an end to your maritime career. There are currently marine engineers and deck officers who returned or otherwise willingly working as cargo surveyors at salaries paid to tally clerks.

 

Make a noise. Join hands with the impacted families. Go to the nearest MMD and/or DGS office near you and organise regular protests. Enter into their daily routine with full legal clarity to  pose questions on their day to day activities. File RTI Applications of all sorts.

 

If you are ashore this and reading this, then start today - make your presence felt. Because otherwise, if you don't, then you too will become a statistic in the 'wait and watch' government of ours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASPHALT VENTURE - more analysis

Media reports on the ASPHALT VENTURE episode now suggest that the ship with Master and 6-7 crew onboard has anchored off the Somalian Coast, as the Master has apparently refused to sail out without the rest of his crew, who were held back for the major issue of being Indians held in exchange for Somalian captured pirates being held in Mumbai.

If this is the case, then that is certainly one intelligent Master onboard, who needs to be commended and supported across all lines for the following reasons:-

# He has acquired an understanding of the Somali tribal ethos and culture, which means a lot, since it is the rule of law there.

# He would not get far in the open seas on a ship non-functional for 6 months, with only some crew members and no engineers.

# Once the ship and cargo get back into the rest of the world, it is likely that the concerned parties will forget the Indians stranded ashore, and that's a simple truth too.

# Most importantly, the Master's conscience will probably never forgive him, and there are the legal aspects of leaving those who are under you behind too.

+++

We hope to see some pro-active measures being taken by the authorities here in India on this. While hostage exchange may or may not occur, and seafarers on other ships are in some cases in even worse conditions as per reports filtering back, fact remains, that some simple steps need to be taken, looking forward:-

1) All Indian flag ships plying in the region need to have armed guards on board, legitimately, without making any sublime noises about it. Enough is enough. All Indian flag ships to be properly worked on by way of "Vessel hardening" . . . stronger bullet-proofing of all glass areas, proper citadel design and implementation, electrified barbed wire along the whole ship, technically sound stern and side whips, automatic remote controlled high pressure hoses, investing in stern facing radars, night scope glasses,and investing in superior intelligence (as different from information). Obviously, insurance is a major factor - even workers going to Afganistan get multiple covers including 50 lakhs and more in case of death - what do seafarers get?

2) All Indian seafarers working on foreign flag ships sent by DGS approved recruitment/manpower management companies in India to have full insurance cover as well as minimum standards of safety on board, way ahead of BMP3. There appears to be a silent practice by associations of blackballing and blacklisting seafarers who refuse to head out into piracy zones, with complicit assistance of authorities, both of which shall not be named but you know who you are . . . and this has to stop. Seafarers can not be blackmailed into seeing their watch-keeping certificates or discharge records being spoilt for demanding to be relieved from ships going into piracy zones - and a proper feedback system needs to be set up very rapidly at DGS/MMD for this.

3) There are other steps to be implemented too, if we do not wish to see India's economy suffer by what is turning out into an economic attack on our country's commercial strengths. More on this soon.

But for now, salute the Master of the ASPHALT VENTURE.

Asphalt Venture - bad news

Terrible, keeping the Indian seafarers back.

Here's the report from EcoTerra on the episode:-

BOTCHED PIRATE SHIP RELEASE SEES INDIAN HOSTAGES LEFT BEHIND IN SOMALIA (ecop-marine)
Emirati-owned MSV ASPHALT VENTURE steams off with only half the crewWhat serious analysts predicted since long in the Somali piracy circus are cases where the amateur negotiators and deliverers, who are often friends of friends in the insurance industry, create more difficulties than they solve with ill-conceived ransom drops and not at all planned, insecure release operations.
After a drop of a compared to other recent releases much smaller amount of a ransom today to the pirate gang on the vessel, the sea-shifta left but took with them seven hostages of Indian nationality.
Immediately followed by the usual news-hounds from the often in these very sensitive situations too fast media, different versions concerning the why the Somalis hold the seven Indians were circulated:

"The ship has just sailed away but we have taken some of its Indian crew back because the Indian government is currently holding our men. We need the Indian government to free our men so that we can release their citizens." a wire service reported an alleged pirate calling himself Ahmed as saying. And another wire spread: "We decided to keep the Indian because India is holding our colleagues," the [alleged] pirate, Hassan Farah, said. "We released the other crew members who sailed away from our coast. We will keep these Indians until the Indians release our colleagues."

These news-clips were widely reprinted, though they might hold little substance. But as a matter of fact there are over 120 Somalis nabbed during Indian anti-piracy campaigns in Indian jails and the Somalis have been angry since many weeks and also mistreated especially Indian seamen on other hostage ships due to this situation.
However, we want in the moment therefore only report that - according to our own monitors - the seven seamen are alive and are held around 30km outside of Harardheere and that in our opinion still all options are possible. The traditional Xeer system of legal understanding, widely accepted by the traditional population of Somalia, allows for different solutions to achieve justice in their understanding - some options, however, can be drastic.
Immediately when the pirate gang made for the land, the captain of MV ASPHALT VENTURE started the engines and steamed together with his remaining seven Indian crew off the Central Somali coast near Ceel Gaan, leaving the other seven seafarers to their unsecure fate at the hands of the Somalis.
But meanwhile also the vessel run into trouble, though no more pirates are on board, because the ship reportedly encountered problems and could not proceed in her voyage. Fuel or mechanical problems could be the cause.
If ransom couriers get arrested and briefly jailed like recently in Djibouti, where they then first had to buy themselves free with a hefty handshake and part of their own loot in the exercise, such is just a story for the round-tables of the security and risk-management companies but if a release operation is so shoddily planned and executed like it is obvious in this case, the families are advised to also seek legal redress from those responsible for such blunder.
BACKGROUND: (ecoterra)
MT ASPHALT VENTURE : Seized September 28, 2010. The Panama-flagged asphalt tanker MT ASPHALT VENTURE (IMO 8875798) was captured on her way from Mombasa - where the vessel left at noon on 27. September, southbound to Durban, at 20h06 UTC = 23h06 local time in position 07 09 S 40 59 E. The vessel was sailing in ballast and a second alarm was received at 00h58 UTC = 03h58 LT. The ship with its 15 all Indian crew was then observed to have turned around and is at present commandeered northwards to Somalia. EU NAVFOR confirmed the case only in the late afternoon of 29. September. Information from the ground says a pirate group from Brawa had captured the vessel and at first it was reported that the vessel was heading towards Harardheere at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast, while the tanker had first contact at the Somali coast near Hobyo and was then commandeered further north. The vessel is managed by ISM manager OMCI SHIPMANAGEMENT PVT LTD from Mumbai and owned by BITUMEN INVEST AS from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, who uses INTER GLOBAL SHIPPING LTD from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates as ship-handler. The Government of India and other authorities are informed. Concerning the condition of the crew so far no casualties or injuries are reported, but the vessel seems to have had an engine problem. Negotiations had commenced but have so far not been reaching anywhere. Vessel and crew were held off Kulub at the North-Eastern Indian Ocean coast of Somalia, then had been transferred southwards to Ceel Gaan in the Harardheere area at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast with negotiations more stuck than smooth; and when the crew reportedly had no more food, clean water and diesel a hasty and ill-planned release against a ransom drop was enacted on 15. April 2011. While the vessel got away at least for some distance until it developed problems and couldn't continue, seven Indian crew were left behind on the beach, who continue to be held as hostages.