Haldwani: Minister of State for Defense, Ajay Bhatt on Thursday will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar regarding the appeal to rescue 16 Indian sailors who have been detained by the Guinea navy for over 90 days.
According to sources, a total of 26 crew members including 16 Indian sailors were taken into custody on the charges of oil theft and violation of rules. The crew members of the ship have also shared the video urging the Government of India to intervene and to be released soon.
"On August 8, my ship reached AKPO terminal in Nigeria to fill crude oil with 26 sailors. But before filling the oil, on August 14, at the behest of Nigeria, the Navy of the West African country of Guinea captured the ship. All 26 crew members of the ship have been kept in custody since August 14, accusing the ship of oil theft and violation of rules. These include 16 Indian sailors," Saurabh, a resident of Uttrakhand's Haldwani told ETV Bharat.
Saurabh said over phone "All the group members of the ship have become mentally disturbed. Now Guinea Navy is going to hand over everyone to Nigeria Navy. In such a situation, if they would not be released soon, then it will be difficult to free them for the Nigerian Navy."
Also read: 16 Indian sailors detained in Equatorial Guinea
In a video message, one of the crew members said, "we will be forcefully taken to Nigeria by arranging the tug boats". The sailors have urged the Indian government to save them.
"We have received information that the ship will be illegally towed from here to Nigeria, the government here is arranging for tug boats. It 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." 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.
