<p> It all happened when the VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) M T (Motor Tanker) Tosa, a Japanese ship, captained by Glen Patrick Aroza from Bendore in Mangalore, was moving towards Singapore from South Korea on April 17. Capt Glen was taking rest after duty, while the Second Officer Mohammed Rezeul Karim, was commanding the ship. When he noticed a Taiwanese trawler, approaching it at high speed early morning in the high seas, he increased the speed of the ship and avoided collision. <br /><br />An hour after the incident, the news of the trawler having sunk in the sea, came in. Out of the 13 crew on the boat, two had gone missing. The others were rescued by the Taiwan Coast Guards. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Preeta Aroza, wife of Capt Glen, said that her husband came to know about the sunken boat only at around 9 am on April 17. By then, he was asked by the Taiwan Coast Guards to berth the ship in Taiwan port. The officials there alleged that the trawler sank, after the ship collided with it. <br /><br />Ever since, Capt Aroza, Second Officer Karim (Bangladeshi) and Able Bodied Seaman Edward Mallorca (Filipino) have been detained in Taiwan and are being questioned. <br /><br />Preeta, quoting her husband, said that even after three inspections, the authorities there could not get any proof of the boat having involved with a collision with the ship in question. “The Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (like the black box in an aircraft), which records the activity of the ship shows that there was absolutely no contact between the ship and the boat,” she said. Preeta said that she and Glen fear that the Taiwanese authorities may fix the officers. “The shipping company, N Y K Ship Management Private Limited, has assured that they have appointed the best lawyer for the detainees. But Glen is worried whether the Chinese lawyer could effectively represent the case due to the language barrier between the detained officers and the lawyer,” she said.<br /><br />She appealed to the authorities concerned to transfer the case to Panama as the alleged incident happened in international waters. “As per the international law, if anything happens in the international waters, the case should be registered at the flag state of the vessel, that is, Panama (the vessel is registered in Panama). Just because the trawler belonged to Taiwan, its not fair to detain the captain in Taiwan,” she argued and added that she has already approached DG-Shipping in Mumbai, National Union of Sea Farers of India, External Affairs Ministry and Ministry of Shipping. “The government has assured all help, but my request is only to speed up the process and put pressure on Taiwanese government,” Recalling a similar incident, Preeta said that Capt Rajkumar Goel, an Indian, was arrested by the Taiwan government in 1996 and he was jailed till 1999. “After learning the incident, Capt Goel himself called me and asked me to pressurise the government before Capt Glen is framed in false charges,” she said. <br />Capt Glen (37) has been sailing for the last 19 years and he was promoted about two-and-a-half years ago.</p>
<p> It all happened when the VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) M T (Motor Tanker) Tosa, a Japanese ship, captained by Glen Patrick Aroza from Bendore in Mangalore, was moving towards Singapore from South Korea on April 17. Capt Glen was taking rest after duty, while the Second Officer Mohammed Rezeul Karim, was commanding the ship. When he noticed a Taiwanese trawler, approaching it at high speed early morning in the high seas, he increased the speed of the ship and avoided collision. <br /><br />An hour after the incident, the news of the trawler having sunk in the sea, came in. Out of the 13 crew on the boat, two had gone missing. The others were rescued by the Taiwan Coast Guards. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Preeta Aroza, wife of Capt Glen, said that her husband came to know about the sunken boat only at around 9 am on April 17. By then, he was asked by the Taiwan Coast Guards to berth the ship in Taiwan port. The officials there alleged that the trawler sank, after the ship collided with it. <br /><br />Ever since, Capt Aroza, Second Officer Karim (Bangladeshi) and Able Bodied Seaman Edward Mallorca (Filipino) have been detained in Taiwan and are being questioned. <br /><br />Preeta, quoting her husband, said that even after three inspections, the authorities there could not get any proof of the boat having involved with a collision with the ship in question. “The Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (like the black box in an aircraft), which records the activity of the ship shows that there was absolutely no contact between the ship and the boat,” she said. Preeta said that she and Glen fear that the Taiwanese authorities may fix the officers. “The shipping company, N Y K Ship Management Private Limited, has assured that they have appointed the best lawyer for the detainees. But Glen is worried whether the Chinese lawyer could effectively represent the case due to the language barrier between the detained officers and the lawyer,” she said.<br /><br />She appealed to the authorities concerned to transfer the case to Panama as the alleged incident happened in international waters. “As per the international law, if anything happens in the international waters, the case should be registered at the flag state of the vessel, that is, Panama (the vessel is registered in Panama). Just because the trawler belonged to Taiwan, its not fair to detain the captain in Taiwan,” she argued and added that she has already approached DG-Shipping in Mumbai, National Union of Sea Farers of India, External Affairs Ministry and Ministry of Shipping. “The government has assured all help, but my request is only to speed up the process and put pressure on Taiwanese government,” Recalling a similar incident, Preeta said that Capt Rajkumar Goel, an Indian, was arrested by the Taiwan government in 1996 and he was jailed till 1999. “After learning the incident, Capt Goel himself called me and asked me to pressurise the government before Capt Glen is framed in false charges,” she said. <br />Capt Glen (37) has been sailing for the last 19 years and he was promoted about two-and-a-half years ago.</p>
