A crew of 16 Indian sailors, who are stuck in Equatorial Guinea, have flagged an SOS for help. The crew have been detained in the region for over 80 days and they fear arrest by the Nigerian Navy. Equatorial Guinea is located along the west coast of central Africa.
Alleging illegal detention, the crew appealed to the authorities for assistance and release.
Earlier, the Indian embassy in Equatorial Guinea said that officials are closely working with the authorities of Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria for the early release of crew members of the MV Heroic Idun.
Promising an early resolution to the issue at hand, the Indian Embassy stated that authorities have been monitoring their situation.
“Since their detention in mid-August, this Mission has been in regular contact with the crew members over the 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,” the embassy said.
The Embassy of India, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea confirmed their intervention while replying to Rajya Sabha MP AA Rahim on November 7.
The MP, in a letter to the foreign minister S Jaishankar, called for urgent intervention and deemed it ‘illegal detention’. In his letter, Rahim said that the crew members were arrested in international waters. He asked EAM Jaishankar to ensure a ‘safe return’.
The Rajya Sabha MP shared that local authorities in Equatorial Guinea had asked the ship owner to pay a hefty fine and the owner of the ship, which was destined to pick up a shipment of oil, even paid the amount.
“Yet the crew are yet to be released,” Rahim wrote to Jaishankar.
Notably, the parliamentarian said that the crew members had not been ‘mistreated’ by African authorities.
As many as 15 of the sailors have now been sent to the detention facility. In a video that they released, the sailors alleged that they don’t have any food or water.