Indian Crew Of Ship Return After 9 Months Of Detention In Indonesia

The Indonesian government has released three crew members of the M.V. Aashi ship who were detained in February this year after their ship ran aground, said the Indian Embassy in Indonesia on Wednesday.

In a post on X, the Indian Embassy in Indonesia informed of the release saying, "We are happy that the 3 crew members of M.V. Aashi, who had been detained in Feb. 2023 after their ship ran aground returned home to India today. We thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia for their cooperation in making this possible."

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also appreciated the Indian embassy in Indonesia for the successful repatriation of crew members.

Mr Jaishankar shared on X, "Good work @IndianEmbJkt. Happy to see our people return home."

As per a report from the Marine Trade Independent Global Media Channel, Breakbulk, the vessel in question, 'MV AASHI', boasting a deadweight tonnage of 5000 dwt, encountered treacherous weather conditions on February 10th while en-route with 1900 tons of asphalt from Dubai to Indonesia.

It reported that realizing the ship was taking on water due to a hull breach, the crew sought permission from Indonesian authorities to anchor near the Nias Islands. Subsequently, all 20 crew members evacuated. The spilled asphalt was promptly cleaned by Indonesian authorities.

However, the ship's condition worsened, leading to a tilt and eventual submersion of approximately 80%. By February 24th, 17 crew members had been repatriated, leaving behind Captain Sanjeev Kumar, Chief Engineer Sanjay Kumar Pandey, and Chief Officer Siyab Salam for further investigation.

Following this, the passports of the trio were confiscated, and Indonesian authorities, including local police, coast guard, and port officials, seized all investigative documents. While the investigation revealed various ship deficiencies and its unseaworthiness, it also cleared the detained individuals of any responsibility for environmental damage caused by the ship's grounding, Breakbulk had reported.

Despite this, the Indonesian government had persisted in confining the men to house arrest in a Nias Island hotel for the past seven months.

Finally, after months of negotiations, the Indian Embassy was able to secure the release of the 3 Ship officers.

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