A shipping crew, including 14 Indians, five Bangladeshis and one Egyptian, that was confined in Yemen for the past 10 months, was released safely recently.
Dr Dhananjay Datar, CMD, Al Adil Trading LLC in the UAE, popularly known as Masala King, took painstaking efforts to make this rescue possible through continuous communication and following up with the Indian Embassy in Djibouti which is close to Yemen.
The Indian workers include 6 Maharashtrians named Sandeep Lohar and Nilesh Lohar (Kolhapur), Fairoz Zari (Ratnagiri), Ahmed Wakankar (Dapoli), Tanmay Mane (Alibaug), Dawood Jivarak (Dapoli); the others being -- Chetan Gawas (Goa), Maniraj Marippan, Mohanraj Thanigchalam and William Nicamden (Tamil Nadu), Pravin T. (Puducherry), Abdul Mustaba (Kerala), Hiron Seikh Siddiki (West Bengal) and Sanjeev Kumar (UP). They are expected to return home via Aden by this weekend.
The 14 Indian sailors had travelled from Mumbai to Muscat last January to work at an Oman-based shipping company and were accompanied by 6 other sailors from Bangladesh and Egypt.
Since the shipping company got a contract from Saudi Arabia, the crew started its first voyage on two ships on February 3 to the Yanbu port in Saudi.
On February 12, the sea turned turbulent and resulted in the sinking of one ship.
Fortunately, the crew members of the sunken ship were rescued in time and their journey continued through another ship, but soon, the weather turned rough and cyclonic, forcing the ship to anchor on the spot. What they didn’t know was that the anchor point was actually in a war-prone zone and also within the maritime border of Yemen.
As a result, the Yemeni Coast Guards arrested the entire crew and confined them in a hotel in the city of Sanaa for further enquiry. Their passports, documents, cell phones and cash were seized.
The group spent six months in isolation at the hotel, expecting their employer to take efforts towards their rescue, much to their disappointment. They couldn’t even contact the outside world as their cell phones were confiscated. It was only a couple of months ago that they were allowed to communicate with their families.
Some friends of the confined Indian sailors called Dr. Datar and informed him of their plight, who in turn used his contacts to secure the release.
In a press statement, Dr Datar said, “I have done nothing great. I am determined to help my countrymen who are stranded in a foreign land under challenging circumstances. I wish them to reach home safely and unite with their families.”
Dr Datar has also donated a sum of Rs. 20,000 to each of the rescued sailors as emergency help.
The Indian Embassy in Djibouti is working towards getting temporary passports and visa documents for the workers.