In “detention” for over a month, the four Iraqi officers of Mongolian vessel MV Sea Glory don’t think they will be able to return home before their ill-fated ship is pulled out of Kori Creek, where it got stuck in a storm late June.

“We have tried our best to find a salvage company, but no one is ready to undertake operations in the area till the end of monsoon,” said Girish Lalchandani, Kandla chief of the company representing the ship’s owners. “There is nothing against any of the ship’s 18-member crew. In fact, 14 of them have already been released by officials of the Kandla-based Mercantile Marine Department (MMD). But master of the ship, chief officer, second officer and second engineer will have to wait till the stranded ship is salvaged or the Dubai-based ship owner submits a bank guarantee,” he added.

But the officers consider their “detention” illegal, both under Indian and international laws. “An inquiry conducted by the MMD did not find us guilty on any account. We are crew members and have nothing to do with giving bank guarantee or undertaking salvage operations. That’s the work of the ship’s owners,” said Captain Marof Dawood, the master of the ship.

“In Europe and other western countries, if a ship meets with a natural accident, all its crew members are allowed to go the very next day after completion of inquiry and obtaining statements. But here, we have been in detention for over a month,” the Captain added.

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