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Treatment of Hebei Spirit officers denounced
21 November 2008
Unions and shipping owners have today condemned the ongoing detention of two officers in South Korea following an oil spill from their vessel caused by a collision with crane barge.
Members of the International Bargaining Forum (IBF), a negotiating group bringing together union and ship owner representatives, meeting in Hong Kong today, condemned the treatment of Captain Jasprit Chawla and Chief Officer Syam Chetan and pledged to do all they could to secure their release.
The men have been refused permission to return home despite being acquitted by a South Korean Court and cleared of all charges of violating the nation’s anti-pollution laws. A crane barge collided with their ship, the Hebei Spirit, last December and caused an oil spill off the coast of South Korea.
The IBF stated that since the collision and the ensuing oil spill could not be attributed to any negligence on their part and since they had already been proven innocent under South Korean law, their treatment was unlawful and unjust, and contravened their human rights.
Captain Manji, Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Group, said: “Captain Chawla and Chief Officer Chetan have been found innocent of causing last December's spill, they have been held for nearly a year and now they are being effectively punished further on a virtual non-charge. The treatment of these men has been repudiated by us, by the shipping industry, by seafarers' unions and by the Indian government, all of whom have petitioned the Korean government and courts for their release. All of us are aware of the effect the oil spill had on those who live and work in the area, but picking on these two officers will not lessen the damage.”
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