A First Appellate Authority, in an interim order, has put “on hold” a three-year suspension of the Recruitment and Placement Service (RPS) license of Anglo Eastern Ship Management (India) Pvt Ltd, the Indian unit of one of the world’s top ship management firms based in Hong Kong, for allegedly violating manning rules of seafarers.
Anglo Eastern Ship Management (India) had appealed against the 31 May suspension order issued by the Director, Seamen’s Employment Office, affiliated to the D G Shipping, following an enquiry into the 17 April 2018 death of Sanjay Chaudhary, Chief Engineer on board Hong Kong-flagged ship M T Atlantic Olive, when the ship managed by Anglo Eastern was enroute Cape Verde Islands from Malta.
The ship manager had appealed before the Principal Officer, Mercantile Marine Department based in Mumbai, who is the First Appellate Authority to deal with such appeals per the Merchant Shipping (Recruitment and Placement Service) Rules, 2016.
In the interim order written on 5 June, the First Appellate Authority directed that the suspension order issued by the Director, Seamen’s Employment Office, be put on hold.
Capt S I Abul Kalam Azad, Principal Officer (I/C) and the First Appellate Authority wrote that the suspension order of Anglo Eastern Ship Management (I) has been kept in abeyance until completion of appeal proceedings before it.
He added that this was done keeping in view the larger interests of hundreds of Indian seafarers expected to join onboard ships and sign-on and sign-off on daily basis through Anglo Eastern Ship Management (I) and further because the (suspension) order was issued without following the due process of law per the M S (RPSL) Rules, 2016.
After holding initial hearings on the matter, the First Appellate Authority said it found that the order of the Director, SEO was “incomplete” and was issued “without following the principles of natural justice and without following the due process of law mandated in the MS (RPSL) Rules.
Moreover, it was observed that the “sudden action taken by the DSEO” was “harsh and does not commensurate with the noted violations in the subject incident”.
Furthermore, the First Appellate Authority said the order had “severe and immediate implications for the employment of thousands of Indian seafarers who are not involved in this matter”.
“In view of the foregoing, the First Appellate Authority is of the view that it will be of larger interest towards the Indian seafarers already employed by the company, if the RPSL company is allowed to continue its operations till the disposal of appeal”.
In its appeal, Anglo Eastern Ship Management (India) submitted that the suspension order “may not immediately impact the seafarers who are serving onboard ships, however the company is unable to place seafarers onboard who are scheduled to join within next few days”.
“Further, this would severely impact the operation of ships which are trading globally, and it will cause avoidable hardship to Indian seafarers who have completed their assignment onboard and are waiting to come home. Further, due to such delays owners would decide to place crew of alternate nationalities onboard, which will severely affect livelihood of Indian seafarers. This will severely impact India’s image internationally as well,” the ship manager contended before the First Appellate Authority. Commenting on the interim order issued by the First Appellate Authority, Anglo Eastern Ship Management (India) said: “It thus remains and continues to be business as usual for our Indian crewing division, with no disruption to our day-to-day operations, employment of Indian seafarers, or their joining schedules”.
