“Ship will be illegally towed”: Indian sailors detained in Equatorial Guinea seek urgent help

New Delhi [India], November 9 (ANI): The Indian sailors detained in Equatorial Guinea have expressed apprehension about their safety and have said in a video that their ship “will be illegally towed to Nigeria”.
The Chief Officer from MT Heroic Idun, who is among 16 Indian sailors detained in Equatorial Guinea, said that they “will be forcefully taken by arranging the tug boats”. The sailors have urged the Indian government to “save” them.
The Indian mission in Equatorial Guinea had said on Monday that they are closely working with authorities of Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria for the early release of crew members held in the country.
“This Embassy and our High Commission in Abuja are closely working with authorities of Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria for the early release of crew members of MV Heroic Idun. All crew members are safe and those in the Detention Centre have been shifted to the ship,” the Indian mission in Equatorial Guinea had said in a tweet.
“Since their detention in mid-August, this mission has been in regular contact with the crew members over phone. We have also had several consular access/visits to them. We are closely monitoring developments and are actively engaged for an early resolution of the issue,” it added.
The Chief Officer said in the video that they have instructions not to move out but will be “forcefully taken from here”.
“We have got the info that the ship that it will be illegally towed from here to Nigeria, the government here is arranging for tug boats, this is an act of piracy. The ship is prohibited to sail from here by the flag state. Our flag state is the Marshall Islands. We have received instructions not to move out from here. So, we will be forcefully taken from here by arranging the tug boat. So this is the information I have received,” he said.
“The people from the ship, they are standing at the jetty. They will be coming any moment on board and the ship will be taken forcefully from here. We will not able to send any more videos. This might be our last video. We don’t know when the army comes on board the ship what they are going to do,” he added.
The sailors carried placards “save us” and urged the government to save them.
Earlier CPI-M leader AA Rahim had written to External Affairs S Jaishankar saying that crew of MT Heroic Idun includes 16 Indian sailors and they are being “allegedly illegally detained in Equatorial Guinea”.
“They have been detained since mid August allegedly without any dear cause. The ship which was scheduled to pick up a shipment oil from Nigeria was approached by an unknown and unidentified vessel claiming to be from the Nigerian navy while waiting to pick up their shipment,” he said.
“Suspecting piracy, the ship moved away into international waters. It is alleged that they were detained by the Navy of the Equatorial Guinea from international waters,” the letter added.
Rahim, a member of Rajya Sabha, said after being detained, the authorities in Equatorial Guinea allegedly conducted and investigation and demanded the ship to pay a hefty fine to be released on September 28.
“The owners of the ship paid the fine hoping to ensure the safety of the crew. Yet the crew are yet to be released. Although they have not been mistreated by the authorities in Equatorial Guinea, their continued detention has caused severe mental distress and deterioration of physical health of the crew. Now it is alleged that the crew are to be handed over to Nigerian authorities. This has caused further distress and panic among the crew. They are now in fear for their safety,” he said.
Rahim, who had tweeted his letter on Sunday, sought the minister’s intervention for safe return of the crew members and hoped for swift resolution of the issue.
The Indian mission in Equatorial Guinea had responded to his tweet stating that they are actively engaged for an early resolution of the issue. (ANI)