Proposal to haul up INSA for contempt of court

By G Saravanan
Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai on June 29, 2011:


CHENNAI: National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) has planned to move contempt proceedings against the Indian National Shipowners Association (INSA) for disobeying a Bombay High Court order on allowances for each (on board) seaman while transporting dangerous cargoes.
Speaking to Express from Mumbai, Abdulgani Y Serang, the general secretarycum- treasurer, NUSI, said: “As per the terms of agreement signed before the Bombay High Court between INSA and NUSI three years ago and subsequently ordered by the court as well, an allowance of Rs 10,000 per month or pro-rata was to be paid to Ratings and Petty Officers (commonly, seamen) on board the ships for carrying dangerous /radioactive materials.”
Notwithstanding the order of the Bombay High Court, made while disposing of a writ petition on an industry-wide agreement for seamen working on Indian flag ships on home trade, offshore and foreign, INSA have not paid a single penny to any seaman for the past three years despite the fact that the dangerous/ radioactive materials were being carried on board, lamented Abdulgani.
Since this is a clear disobedience of the Bombay High Court order, NUSI is serving an ultimatum of eight days to INSA to implement the order and pay the arrears of the past three years to all seamen concerned, the general secretary maintained.
The ships carry different types of cargo, which include oil, chemicals and also cargo in gaseous form. These goods are hazardous for the health of the seafarers, the general secretary informed.
Some of the common dangerous materials carried onboard are fuel oil, lubricant oil, chemicals, explosives, LNG and LPG.
These dangerous cargoes are classified under International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) code of the International Maritime Organisation. “We have already served legal notice to INSA and if they do not act even after our eight-day ultimatum, we would be moving the Bombay High Court for contempt proceedings against the association,” Abdulgani said.