Capt. Prem Kumar, RAK AFRIKANA, and the Indian consul in Dubai . . .

http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/newdelhi/Tale-of-fortitude-ends-in-tragedy/Article1-699628.aspx


Their strikes and demands are getting audacious but what Somali pirates, who continue to infest the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, do to the hostages is terrifying. Sanjay Verma, India's consul general in Dubai, would know. For 11 months, he worked for the release of Seychelles-flagged RAK Afrikana, without telling anyone that his brother-in-law was the captain of the 23-member crew, 11 of who were Indians, held hostage by the pirates. He didn't think it was professional.


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Read the rest of the article at the link provided.

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.

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.

 

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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.+

 

 

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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".

 

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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.