Details
Marella Discovery
“Raju Vernekar
vernekar.raj@gmail.com
The cruise ship “Marella Discovery” (carrying flag of Malta), which was awaiting the permission to disembark, landed at Mumbai Port(12 VD Mumbai Port) with 146 Indian seamen aboard, on Thursday afternoon.
They were received by NSUI office bearers Milind Kandalgaonkar and others.. The seafarers were examined by a team of doctors soon after arrival. They have been lodged in a
They were examined by a team of doctors soon after arrival. They have been lodged in a hotel in South Mumbai awaiting their reports.
The ”Marella Discovery” which stranded on the Western Coast for nearly 40 days, since it was denied permission to disembark at Kochi Port. It was scheduled to sail to Kochi, New Mangalore, Goa and then Mumbai between 2 April 2020 and 6 April 2020. After the COVID-19 outbreak, all the passengers on the cruise ship disembarked at Laem Chabang, Thailand, on 14 March. The ship reached Kochi on April 12 and due to the denial of permission to disembark, it continued to sail towards Mumbai.
After Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was apprised of the seafarers plight, a team of top officials, including Principal Secretary in Chief Ministers Office (CMO) Vikas Kharge, Additional Chief Secretary to CMO Ashish Kumar Singh and Mumbai Port Trust Chairman Sanjay Bhatia followed up the issue with the Centre.
After Thackeray, spoke to Union Minister of State for Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued orders on the standard operating procedure (SOP) for sign-on and sign-off for the Indian seafarers, paving the way for the return of an estimated 40,000 sailors stuck on different ships.
As per the notification issued by MHA on 21 April, the seafarers will have to intimate their travel and contact history for the last 28 days to the ship owner/RPA(Robotic Process Automation) agency by e mail as per procedure laid down by the Director General of Shipping (DGS). They will be examined by DGS approved medical examiner. Besides, they will be screened based on their travel history for the last 28 days and if found asymptomatic for COVID- 19, then will be proceeded for sign-on.”
“Similarly those whose contracts have expired and are due for sign-off, will have to go through the same procedure and the local authority will have to make arrangement to quarantine them as per prevailing system. They will be given special passes by local authorities to enable them to reach their homes.
Besides Maharashtra Chief Minister, National Union of Seafarers of India (NSUI) General Secretary Abdulgani Serang, Maritime Union of India (MUI) and The Maritime Association of Ship owners Ship managers and Agents(MASSA) had also raised the issue with the shipping ministry, for the return of these seafarers after the lockdown is lifted. In a petition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mandaviya, the NUSI had pointed out that the seafarers, including those on board the cruise ships, who have finished their contract were stranded abroad and were accommodated onboard their ships. Some of the seafarers who had signed off from their ships were held up in hotels abroad. Also some of them were stuck within India due to the lockdown.
The stranded seafarers include over 15,000 onboard nearly 500 cargo vessels and another 25,000 on cruise ships across the globe. They are expected to get great relief with issuance of orders on the SOP by MHA. This will to allow them to continue their duty or disembark and return home.
About Kochi Port’s denial to permit the ship to disembark, Kandalgaonkar said that earlier there was a ban on the ships landing at Indian ports in view of the COVID-19. It is after the issuance of notification by MHA, the ban has been relaxed.
Marella Discovery”
