Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has directed the Centre and other authorities to disembark the crew of MT Unity, a foreign oil tanker abandoned by its owner off Paradip since May, and repatriate them to their respective countries, preferably within three weeks.
The direction was issued October 6 by Justice R K Pattanaik while hearing a writ petition filed by the vessel’s master, Russian national Istyagin Evgeny Nikolaevich.
The court held that the seafarers had been abandoned by the shipowner under the Merchant Shipping Act, as the owner had failed to pay their wages, provide provisions or arrange a crew change or their return home.
The authorities were directed to arrange the crew’s disembarkation and repatriation and place a replacement crew on board.
The expenses may be recovered from the owner or other parties found liable, the court said.
The Cameroon-flagged tanker has been anchored off Paradip port since May 11 and is under arrest in three admiralty suits before the High Court over commercial claims against its owner.
The vessel had arrived to discharge Russian crude oil.
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The master and 22 other seafarers have remained on board. According to the Russian Consulate General in Kolkata, 20 of them are Russian nationals, two are Egyptian, and one is from Kazakhstan.
In his petition, the master said the crew had not been paid since May and that supplies of food, drinking water and other essentials had dwindled, while neither the owner nor the local agent had taken steps to address their plight.
He argued that the right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution extended to foreign seafarers aboard vessels in Indian waters.
The vessel’s insurer subsequently supplied provisions and cleared the wage arrears.
The writ petition was first taken up in August, when the High Court issued notices to the Centre and other parties.
As an interim measure, it directed the Paradip Port Authority to remove sludge from the vessel urgently.
The Ministry of External Affairs said in September that it was in regular contact with the Russian Embassy regarding the crew’s welfare and repatriation.
The tanker remains under arrest, the High Court said.
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