The High Court of the Indian state of Odisha has ordered the repatriation of 23 sailors from the detained tanker Unity, including a citizen of Kazakhstan. The ruling was issued on October 6, and authorities must ensure the crew members are sent home and a replacement team is dispatched to the vessel within three weeks, according to infohub.kz.
According to information published by Splash247, the crew was officially recognized as abandoned by the shipowner. The court recommended that the costs of repatriating the sailors be recovered from the vessel's owner or other responsible parties. As of publication, there was no information that the sailors had already left the vessel.
During the proceedings, the court found that the owner had failed to pay the crew's wages, provide the sailors with necessary supplies, and organize their return home. Later, the insurer settled the debt and restored supplies, but the crew members remained on board.
In a July appeal posted in the database of the International Labour Organization and the International Maritime Organization, the ship's captain reported a shortage of food and drinking water, deteriorating health of the crew, and expired employment contracts. According to him, wage arrears for May and June reached $223,533.
The tanker Unity arrived at the port of Paradip in May to unload oil for Indian Oil Corporation. In court documents, the owner is listed as FMTC Ship Charter LLC. The first arrest warrant for the vessel was issued on May 11 following a claim by ship fuel supplier Tresta International FZE, which demanded $423,832 including interest and costs. In July, the company withdrew its claim, and the court canceled that warrant, but the tanker remained under arrest in other cases.
Later, insurer Soglasie demanded compensation of about 30.2 million Indian rupees spent on supplying the vessel and paying the crew. In September, the sailors' relatives told RBC that during a storm the tanker was torn from its anchor and drifted with a non-operational engine. The Russian Consulate General then stated that, according to Indian authorities, there was no threat to the crew's lives.
In September, Kursiv wrote that Kazakh diplomats were helping to return a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan from aboard the Unity. Official spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Zhanbolat Usenov, said that diplomats had sent a request to the Indian side for assistance. The foreign ministry assured that it is keeping the situation under control.
In addition to the Kazakh citizen, there are 20 Russians and two Egyptian citizens on board. According to relatives, some sailors have spent more than 10 months on the vessel.