By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: In a noble gesture, Jindal Steel and Power Limited Chairman and former Lok Sabha MP, Naveen Jindal on Friday offered help to some 39 Indian Sailors, who had been stranded at Chinese ports for months; were carrying coal from Australia to China.
“This is a humanitarian crisis: 39 Indian sailors stranded at Chinese ports for months; were carrying coal from Australia to China.We are ready to buy the coal on these ships if it can help bring our sailors back home. #SaveOurSailors @MEAIndia,” JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal
Tweeted @MPNaveenJindal. JSPL Chairman Naveen Jindal has also tagged the Ministry of External Affairs in his Tweets.
The ships arrived during an ongoing trade war between China and Australia, leading China to ban the import of Australian coal. These two ships had been carrying the same cargo. However, vessels from Russia, Canada, and Europe have since been permitted to offload their Australian coal and depart. The 39 sailors have been left to their fate without much support from the central government, and their families are struggling to get them back.The families of the Indian sailors, mostly based in the Indian state of Maharashtra, have been appealing to different government offices but with no help in sight.
A reports in www.maritime-executive.com said, the heat of the ongoing crisis has been felt by two bulk carriers that have been in the headlines recently – the Anastasia (IMO 9625970) and the Jag Anand, owned by India’s Great Eastern Shipping Company. The two ships have been anchored at Caofeidian and Jingtang ports for 154 days and 207 days, respectively (as of January 7, 2021).China and India have been engaged in border standoffs for quite some time now, giving rise to an ongoing trade war and diplomatic tensions. China’s policy on Indian-flagged vessels came to the forefront when vessels flying other flags were permitted to unload similar bulk cargo and leave during the same period.
