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Call on unions to help secure release of Hebei Spirit officers
28 November 2008
The ITF is urging affiliated unions to highlight the plight of two officers detained in South Korea following an oil spill from their ship last year.
The federation has today called on affiliated unions to take action to support the two officers of the Hebei Spirit, Captain Jasprit Chawla and Chief Officer Syam Chetan, held in South Korea for almost a year. Despite already having been found to be innocent of any negligence, the men remain in Korea awaiting a judgement on an appeal case, due on 10 December. The Hebei Spirit oil spill happened when a barge struck the anchored vessel; it caused a major environmental and economic disaster off the coast of the country.
In the run-up to the date of the judgement, the ITF is asking affiliates, before 9 December, to meet with Korean contacts, friends, businesses, embassies and diplomatic representatives to express their concerns. It is hoped that affiliates will urge them to act to ensure that all evidence, including evidence from international experts, is taken into account.
Stephen Cotton, ITF Maritime Coordinator said: “The Hebei Spirit oil spill was a traumatic event in Korea, and there can be no intent to evade responsibility for it. But that blame has already been apportioned by its courts. The tanker was safely at anchor when a runaway barge holed it and those in charge of that barge, and those who owned it, Samsung, have been punished. To try and find others to share that punishment, or lay off some of the blame, especially on a conveniently foreign ship’s officers, would be inexcusable.
“Frankly, that these men are in detention when they have been proved blameless is both impossible to understand and deeply injurious to South Korea’s image abroad. There is only one result that can redress the wrong that has been done to these two men.
“Yesterday the Greek courts were big enough to admit that they had committed an error in unfairly ciminalising a Croatian ship master, Captain Kristo Laptalo. We hope that the South Korean judiciary will consider that example when making up its mind here.”
He concluded: “We remain committed to the bringing to justice of wrongdoers, the investigation of accidents as sea, and the learning of lessons from those investigations. What we cannot and will not support is the continued criminalisation of seafarers.”
A blog has been set up to support the men: http://justiceforhebeispirit.blogspot.com
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