C Shivakumar
Chennai:
The mysterious death of a sailor, who went missing from Liberian registered vessel M T Kingfisher, which was docked in Chennai Port, was mired in controversy as the international ship was allowed to sail without any enquiry being conducted by Indian officials two days after the incident.
Radhakrishnan T K, who was sailing on board MT Kingfisher, an oil tanker, went missing on around 4.20am on July 28 and his body was located at Royapuram on 28th evening. A First Information Report was filed by the police on July 29 but the crew in the ship were not enquired over how the incident happened.
The Chennai Port authorities and Mercantile Marine Department said that the death of the sailor was not informed when the ship departed from Chennai Port on July 30.
As per the The Merchant Shipping Act of 1958, Section 358, the death of any sailor should be reported for the purpose of investigation and enquiry. This incident is blatant violation of Section 358, said Manoj Joy, Chaplain Sailors Society.
Director General of Shipping Deepak Shetty told Express that any death should be reported at the Marine Mercantile Department based in Chennai and it is their duty to conduct the investigation.
But then the recruiting agent of ship and director of Seaarland Management Services, Mumbai, Capt Jairam citing the rules said that he has informed the headquarters of director general of shipping while producing the letters duly acknowledged by the dispatch section. But then the question remains why did the agent inform the Mumbai headquarters when the incident happened in Chennai. To this Jairam replied that as per norms he informed the director general of shipping and if they have not acted it is their fault.
It was also learnt from the agent that the immigration department in Chennai Port, which can’t conduct an enquiry or investigation over the death of a crew member, was informed by Inchcape Shipping Services based in Chennai. “The ship was docked right in front of Mercantile Marine Department’s office and the agent did not inform MMD so that Port State Officer would have investigated the incident,” said Joy.
When Express contacted S Barik, principal officer of MMD, he said they did not get any orders from Director General of Shipping to investigate the incident. “If the director general of shipping asks us to conduct enquiry, we will do the same,” he says.
Interestingly, the office of the Directorate General of shipping has issued a casualty circular on 2006.by laying out guidelines on how the enquiry should be conducted when a death is reported in the ship. This comes after the Nautical Adviser to Union government has observed that in a number of cases, “reports into shipping casualties being forwarded to the Directorate, are found to be lacking in depth and quality in their contents. More so when reports are compiled by Port Officers of Minor Ports. The purpose of conducting investigations into such marine casualties thereby gets defeated.”
The irony is who is responsible for letting the ship sail without conducting any enquiry over the death of the sailor, said Joy.
International Transport Workers Federation inspector K Sreekumar has taken up the issue with the shipping company, MMD and notified the ITF headquarters in London
Chennai:
The mysterious death of a sailor, who went missing from Liberian registered vessel M T Kingfisher, which was docked in Chennai Port, was mired in controversy as the international ship was allowed to sail without any enquiry being conducted by Indian officials two days after the incident.
Radhakrishnan T K, who was sailing on board MT Kingfisher, an oil tanker, went missing on around 4.20am on July 28 and his body was located at Royapuram on 28th evening. A First Information Report was filed by the police on July 29 but the crew in the ship were not enquired over how the incident happened.
The Chennai Port authorities and Mercantile Marine Department said that the death of the sailor was not informed when the ship departed from Chennai Port on July 30.
As per the The Merchant Shipping Act of 1958, Section 358, the death of any sailor should be reported for the purpose of investigation and enquiry. This incident is blatant violation of Section 358, said Manoj Joy, Chaplain Sailors Society.
Director General of Shipping Deepak Shetty told Express that any death should be reported at the Marine Mercantile Department based in Chennai and it is their duty to conduct the investigation.
But then the recruiting agent of ship and director of Seaarland Management Services, Mumbai, Capt Jairam citing the rules said that he has informed the headquarters of director general of shipping while producing the letters duly acknowledged by the dispatch section. But then the question remains why did the agent inform the Mumbai headquarters when the incident happened in Chennai. To this Jairam replied that as per norms he informed the director general of shipping and if they have not acted it is their fault.
It was also learnt from the agent that the immigration department in Chennai Port, which can’t conduct an enquiry or investigation over the death of a crew member, was informed by Inchcape Shipping Services based in Chennai. “The ship was docked right in front of Mercantile Marine Department’s office and the agent did not inform MMD so that Port State Officer would have investigated the incident,” said Joy.
When Express contacted S Barik, principal officer of MMD, he said they did not get any orders from Director General of Shipping to investigate the incident. “If the director general of shipping asks us to conduct enquiry, we will do the same,” he says.
Interestingly, the office of the Directorate General of shipping has issued a casualty circular on 2006.by laying out guidelines on how the enquiry should be conducted when a death is reported in the ship. This comes after the Nautical Adviser to Union government has observed that in a number of cases, “reports into shipping casualties being forwarded to the Directorate, are found to be lacking in depth and quality in their contents. More so when reports are compiled by Port Officers of Minor Ports. The purpose of conducting investigations into such marine casualties thereby gets defeated.”
The irony is who is responsible for letting the ship sail without conducting any enquiry over the death of the sailor, said Joy.
International Transport Workers Federation inspector K Sreekumar has taken up the issue with the shipping company, MMD and notified the ITF headquarters in London
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