With no fuel, no power supply, 4 men adrift at sea battle for survival

Four seafarers working with a NaviMumbaibased company TAG have been living in deplorable conditions onboard two tugboats ndash TAG Rajvir and TAG Laxmi ndash since May last year when the company became bankrupt Though their contracts expired in June 2019 they cant leave the boats stationed at jetty number 22 of Indira Dock as the matter is subjudice before the National Company Law Tribunal NCLTBoth the boats are in bad condition as no maintenance has happened for over a yearThe NCLT has made BKCbased company Duff and Phelps the incharge of the assets to look after the tender maintain the boats and sell them off Earlier there were 10 employees on each tugboat which are used for berthing and unberthing vessels at the Mumbai Port Trust MPT Though the captain chief officer chief engineer second engineer and others could sign off the seafarers mdash Shahabaz Khan 23 Dipankar Vishwas 25 Jwala Singh Patel 27 and Manas Hait 29 were asked to stay back to man the tugboats till the liquidation process was over and auction was heldThe tugboats are stationed at jetty number 22Cant sign offSpeaking to midday Khan said The company became bankrupt on April 24 2019 and my contract expired in June last year I am not allowed to sign off from the tugboat where we have been facing a lot of difficulties There is no power supply since February as the boat has run out of fuel These seafarers have to request the MPT to allow them charge their power banks and cellphonesAlso ReadNavy finds some debris of crashed MiG29K in Arabian sea search on for missing pilotBoth the boats are in a very bad condition as no maintenance has taken place over the past one year said Khan We cannot even use the fans and ACs because there is no fuel to run the generator and when we open the windows for some fresh air mosquitoes create a menace added Khan His colleague Vishwas said One of our colleagues Jwala Singh Patel had malaria and was hospitalised He has also developed some mouth infection Of late he has been suffering from high fever Currently Patel is undergoing treatment at his sisters place in PanvelWhen contacted Patel said When I had malaria the employer got me admitted to a government hospital where the condition of the bed was pathetic So this time I did not want to face the same issue I took permission to come to my sisters place for treatment While three of them are from West Bengal Patel is a native of Prayagraj in Uttar PradeshSalaries delayedThey further complained that they have not been getting their salaries on time We left our homes to earn money but neither are we getting paid on time nor getting proper food A few months ago we literally begged for food from the MPT as they delayed sending ration said Khan Hait said We cannot join any other company without signing off from here It feels like we are security guards manning the boats There is no supply of drinking water and every time we have to ask the MPT employees for it If we tell our families about these problems they will die Patel saidThey further said that the situation became worse during Cyclone Nisarga in June TAG Laxmi is tied to berth number 22 and TAG Rajvir is tied to it Due to rolling and pitching during the cyclone the rope snapped Though we contacted the office neither the employer nor the liquidator helped us We somehow managed to tie the rope again said Vishwas They further told midday that their salaries amounting to R50000R95000 were pending We dont know when we will get the salaries Recently my father met with an accident and injured his jaw I have no money for his medical treatment said Hait When midday contacted liquidator Sudip Bhattacharya his wife received the call and said He has undergone a brain surgery and will be able to talk only after two weeks Even his assistant Kuntal Saha refused to comment on the issueCapt Sanjay Prashar National Shipping Board member said When maritime assets are handed over to NCLT issues like seafarers relief and their insurance are ignored We hope the court looks into the matter As per the Maritime Labour Convention 2016 seafarers are not expected to work for two years onboard ships If the seafarers write to us regarding their issues we will take up the matter with NCLT said Amitabh Kumar Director General of ShippingKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest news