15 detained foreign sailors freed by DG Shipping

CHENNAI: About 15 out of 22 sailors, who were detained by the Kanyakumari district administration have got permission to go back to their native countries on Saturday. All of them were working in merchant ship MV Mirach that sunk off the coast of Kanyakumari.
An investigation report from DG Shipping on Saturday revealed that the accident was due to the negligence in taking right navigation directions.Rajendra Ratnoo, district collector of Kanyakumari said that the passports and other travel documents of 15 sailors have been returned back to sailors. "The accident was a clear case of navigational error and the further action to be decided by DG Shipping," he said.
Though a special team from Singapore had retrieved about 32 metric tonne oil from the sunk vessel, Indian authorities suspects of a possible oil spillage as the vessel documents shows that it was carrying 200 metric tonne oil during the sail. DG Shipping will soon demarcate the accident site to avoid further causalities for other vessels sailing in the region.
Maritime organisations questioned the detention of foreign sailors with out any court order for 40 days. K Sreekumar, a representative of the International Transport Workers Federation pointed out that the detention with out a court order is a violation of international maritime laws and conventions.