A cargo vessel loaded with a consignment of imported cars and cement from Sharjah, destined for war ravaged Somalia, has been sitting pretty in the Mumbai harbour for exactly a year now.

MUMBAI, May 29: Strange but true. A cargo vessel loaded with a consignment of imported cars and cement from Sharjah, destined for war ravaged Somalia, has been sitting pretty in the Mumbai harbour for exactly a year now.

What's more, the ship with its decaying cargo, also has four foreign crew members marooned within sight of the Mumbai port, patiently waiting for their salaries and return passage home to their families. ``We've seen everything anchored for a year in the harbour- from storms to starvation, but it's the long wait that's killing us,'' says Raju Poche, the Tanzanian bosun.

Speaking to Express Newsline onboard their rusting barnacle encrusted ship, the MV Gulf Salamah anchored off the city coast, the haggard crew narrated this tragic tale, which began when their ship left Sharjah early last year.

By the time the ship sailed out for Berbera in Somalia, the 15-member crew had not been paid for 8 months. The Indian captain then decided to divert the vessel to Mumbai to have it arrested and recover their dues from the court. The vessel was arrested by the Sheriff of Mumbai last year after two suits were filed in the High Court one by the crew and another by the ship's agents in Mumbai for outstanding dues.

Owned by Al Zora Shipping, the Salamah owes its agents Jades Shipping over Rs 25 lakh, its crew over 100,000 dollars in addition to the Rs 5.5 lakh in port trust anchorage fees.Stung by the wait, the four remaining crew members petitioned the High Court last month. Soon after, the ship's newly appointed agents stopped supplying the crew with food unless they withdrew the petition. They refused. Last December, the Mumbai High Court allowed the 12 Indian crew of the vessel to sign off after receiving a bank guarantee from the owners. Another order from the Bombay High Court earlier this month stated that the wages of the crew were not being paid, and that the remaining crew could abandon the vessel, leaving it unattended in a manner which could cause danger, the order stated. Yet these four have grittily stuck on. ``If we leave the ship now, we won't be paid our dues by the company, and we'd even have to pay our airfares home,'' says Mohammed Ngaora, the Tanzanian second engineer.

All four are worried about their families, whom they contact only through the occasional letter. ``I have no idea about the fate of my wife and six children,'' laments chief engineer Barbur, whom the company owes over 42,000 dollars.

The ship's 1100 tonnes cargo including some 800 tonnes of cement, 23 motor vehicles and 100 tonnes of mineral water is also in doubtful condition, and has not been inspected since the vessel left Sharjah. And each day that the Salamah spends on anchorage increases its port charge by Rs 2500, making the ship's journey to the scrapyard an inevitability.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.