Lack of government permission by Monday to a ship management company to run a chartered flight on May 28 to Colombo, will kill the employment chances of some 150 Indian seafarers on board five ships.
The issue highlights the ‘soft handling’ of the crew change crisis by the Indian government.
About 150 Indian seafarers have been lined up by V R Maritime for the Mumbai to Colombo flight via Chennai. Each such chartered flight including the return flight costs some Rs 50 lakhs which is borne by the ship management company.
“If we don’t get confirmation for the chartered flight by today, we will have to hand over these 150 jobs to Russians, Chinese and Filipinos,” said Captain Sanjay Prashar, Managing director, V R Maritime and a member on India’s National Shipping Board.
