India on Friday urged China to provide “urgent” assistance to 39 crew members of the stranded cargo vessels MV Jag Anand and MV Anastasia. Both the ships have been stuck for months near Jingtang and Caofeidian ports. The statement came soon after the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognisance of the condition of the sailors and asked the Ministry of External Affairs “to ensure immediate relief” for the crew.
An MEA official said the men are in “increasingly difficult conditions” as Chinese rules did not permit change of crew because of the pandemic.
“We have noted the statements of the Chinese side expressing their willingness to extend their assistance in this matter. We expect that this assistance will be provided in an urgent, practical and time-bound manner, given the grave humanitarian situation that is developing on board the ships,” said the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava.
The Indian comments came a day after Ji Rong, Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy here, said that Beijing had been in “close communication with Indian side and provided timely assistance and necessary supplies to Indian sailors.” The exchanges began as MV Jag Anand with 23 Indian sailors has been stranded on anchorage near Jingtang port in Hebei province of China since last June 13 and MV Anastasia with 16 Indian crew has been stuck on anchorage near Caofeidian port since September 20 of last year.
Several ships
Mr. Srivastava pointed out that India has noted that like the two vessels with Indian crew there are several ships from other countries that are awaiting discharge of their cargo, saying “Our Embassy in Beijing has repeatedly taken up these cases both with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and also the local provincial authorities, requesting that the ships be allowed to dock and/or the crew be allowed to be changed.”
MEA flags plight of Indian sailors stuck at Chinese ports
The official said the Chinese authorities have conveyed to India that in view of various COVID-19 related restrictions imposed by the local authorities, the vessels were not being allowed change of crew. “The Chinese MFA also conveyed in late November 2020 that while crew change from Jingtang port would not be feasible, the shipping company/agent may apply for crew rotation from Tianjin port in China, and that the local authorities would examine after requests from the same. The shipping companies have been asked to make crew change applications expeditiously,” said Mr. Srivastava.
Berthing approvals
India, he said, was in talks with local authorities for “berthing approvals” for the ships at Tianjin to help the process of crew change. The months-long humanitarian crisis escalated on Friday with the NHRC issuing notice to the Secretary in charge of consular affairs in the Ministry of External Affairs and the Director General of Shipping in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. In a statement, the NHRC hinted that China has wilfully prevented change of crew because of the ongoing crisis in eastern Ladakh.
“The commission has further observed that prima facie, it appears that the rights to life, dignity, equality and liberty of Indian seafarers have been trampled down by a member nation of United Nations in derogation of international human rights law and international covenants applicable in the field of human rights,” the NHRC said in a statement on Friday. The NHRC also highlighted the coincidence of escalating border tension between India and China with the difficulties that were faced by the Indian crew members of the two vessels.
“China has reportedly said this is only because of ‘epidemic prevention’ measures, but the ships from Russia, Canada and Europe were allowed to offload and leave,” said the NHRC statement.
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