NEW DELHI, Dec 25: Two Indian cargo ships with 39 sailors on board and carrying Australian coal have been kept stranded without being allowed to unload or leave in two Chinese ports for the last three to six months.
China, however, claim the detention of the Indian cargo ships had nothing to do with the current army stand-off between the two countries in eastern Ladakh but it was because of “quarantine measures in place due to the Corona pandemic.”
But there was no explanation forthcoming why MV Jag Anand with 23 Indian sailors has been kept waiting in the high seas off the Jingtang port since June 13 and MV Anastasia with 16 Indian crew members in anchorage near Caofeidian port since September 20. Both the ports are in the northern province of Hebei. The normal Covid-19 quarantine measures hardly explain detention of a ship off the port for such long period.
Neither the have been allowed to discharge their cargo nor the crew to disembark, impacting their mental and physical health, according to reports.
India’s external affairs ministry had questioned the Chinese authorities’ decision to not allow the ships to leave the ports. “We understand that some other ships, which arrived after the Indian ships arrived, have actually managed to discharge cargo and leave. The reasons for this are not clear,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin responded to a question on whether the ships and its crew were stuck because of currently sour ties involving China and India and Australia over military and trade disputes.
“We stated repeatedly that China has clear stipulations on quarantine measures. Concerning this, China has stayed in close communication with the Indian side and [has been] responding to their requests as well as providing necessary assistance to them,” Wang said at a ministry briefing on Friday.
“As far as I understand, China allows the crew change while meeting certain quarantine conditions,” he said.
“But this Jingtang port (where the ship Jag Anand is stranded) is not in the list for such crew changes… As to whether this has anything to do with the bilateral relations, I don’t see any link,” Wang said.
Reports received here said in November the Indian crew members of Jag Anand had sought help from the Indian government to return home as some are suffering from health issues and the ship is running short of medicines.
“Our embassy in Beijing has been in constant touch with provincial and central government authorities in China, requesting that the ships be allowed to dock and/or the crew be allowed to be changed,” Srivastava had said on Thursday.
(Manas Dasgupta)