This is the story of a Chief Officer who is stuck on this ship for 4 years and has no hope of getting off from it in near time in future. Mohammad Aisha joined ship MV AMAN in the year 2017, but within two months after his joining, ship was detained by the Egyptian Authorities.
Over the time other people were able to sign off from the ship, but he was made legal guardian of the ship until sale of the vessel is completed. He is completely alone on ship with no food, water or power. Every week he needs to swim to the shore to collect food, water and also to charge his mobile phone. He says it is quite dangerous as many time he almost drowned in the water. These four years have taken toll on his health both physically and mentally. In the year 2020, ship ran aground, making the situation more worse.
Only Egyptian authorities have the rights to send him home, which is SYRIA. But, seems like his case is being trapped in a legal net, where there seems to be no escape from it. But organizations like ITF are continuously trying with local authorities to look for a solution. Hopefully ships finds a buyer and he can be sent home. Every year there are so many instances like this where seafarers find them in a situation where owner just leaves them nowhere. It is much of less talked topic in the shipping world, where companies make billions of dollars.
Detailed Report: ‘I have had to swim to shore every few days to get food and water’ – Meet the seafarer trapped on board the MV Aman for four years (and counting) | ITF Global
Image Credits: ITF
