29 Stranded Aboard Oil Tanker off Mumbai for Nearly Three Months
29 crewmembers aboard the oil tanker PRATIBHA TAPI have been stranded about four nautical miles off a Mumbai port for nearly three months. The mariners’ conditions are heavily deteriorating due to lack of food, water, and fuel; many have fallen ill. The crew of the TAPI has apparently not been paid for a month, reports the Indian Express.
Neither the Indian government nor the shipping company has acted to rescue the ship and its crew, according to local reports. Mumbai port authorities are not allowing the crewmembers to leave the ship either.
Pratibha Shipping Company has reportedly not completed immigration formalities which are mandatory if the seafarers are to get off at the port. Many believe the company has gone bankrupt.
The tanker came from Gujarat in October to the Mumbai port where it is now stranded, carrying oil which the vessel offloaded at the port. Later, Pratibha Shipping Company told the ship’s crew to take the vessel outside of the port to avoid fees. Since October 18th, the ship has been in distress and there has been no instruction from the shipping company.
India’s Director-General of Shipping has been informed about the stranded ship. A meeting is scheduled for today to attempt to arrive at a solution in this situation.