Vadodara: The family members of 16 Indian sailors, who the Guinea Navy detained, have expressed concern about their safety and have appealed to the government for their safe return. The Indian sailors have been arrested for over 90 days, and the families have demanded an immediate release of the sailors. Harshvardhan Savche, a resident of Vadodara, is among the 16 Indian crew of the ship detained by the Navy of Equatorial Guinea – a country located on the west coast of Africa. As per the wife of Harshvardhan, Sneha Savche, “the Nigerian Navy took possession of his ship due to some technical reasons while he was on the way to the port of Nigeria for loading. He has been held hostage for the last three months.” Harshvardhan’s wife also said he had sent a video of the hostage situation from the ship.
Harshvardhan’s family is concerned about the safety of everyone as the seized ship has been illegally towed to Nigeria, where they will be arrested. Harshvardhan’s wife pleads with the Government of India to get her husband released and help him get back safely. Earlier, in a video message shared on Wednesday, the Chief Officer from MT Heroic Idun said they “will be forcefully taken by arranging the tug boats”. The sailors have urged the Indian government to “save” them. “We have the information that the ship will be illegally towed from here to Nigeria. The government here is arranging for tug boats, and this is an act of piracy. The ship is prohibited from sailing from here by the flag state. Our flag state is the Marshall Islands. We have received instructions not to move out from here. So, they will forcefully take us from here by arranging the tug boat. So this is the information I have received,” he said.” ” The people from the ship, they are standing at the jetty. They will be coming on board any moment and take the ship forcefully from here. We will not be able to send any more videos. It might be our last video. We don’t know what they are going when the army comes on board the ship,” he added.
The sailors carried placards “save us” and urged the government to save them. Earlier, CPI-M leader AA Rahim had written to External Affairs S Jaishankar that the MT Heroic Idun crew includes 16 Indian sailors. They are being “allegedly illegally detained in Equatorial Guinea”. Responding to him, the Indian mission in Equatorial Guinea said, “This Embassy and our High Commission in Abuja are closely working with Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria authorities for the early release of MV Heroic Idun crew members. All crew members are safe, and those in the Detention Centre have been shifted to the ship.”
“Since their detention in mid-August, this mission has been in regular contact with the crew members over the phone. We have also had several consular access/visits to them. We are closely monitoring developments and are actively engaged for an early resolution of the issue,” it added.(ANI)
