The Kerala Chief Minister has requested Modi’s assistance in freeing Indian sailors detained in Equatorial Guinea
On Tuesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to facilitate the release of 16 Indian sailors held hostage in Equatorial Guinea, including three Keralites.
On August 12, Vijayan wrote to the Prime Minister to alert him to the arrest of a Norwegian vessel in international waters by a Guinean naval ship. Twenty-six seafarers were being held hostage, including 16 Indians. Kerala has three of them. In a letter to the authorities, he said the vessel had been unlawfully held since August 14.
According to Vijayan’s letter, the ship’s crew had engaged in no unlawful activities, and their shipping agent was willing to pay the fine to facilitate their release. The shipping firm paid the fine on September 28, but the ship and its crew remain detained under arrest in Guinea.”
As CM Vijayan noted, the government is concerned over the unforeseen delay in freeing the seafarers. Any further delay would make their lives unsafe.
Seafarer Vijith V Nair said all detained persons were placed in a room guarded by armed men in the Central African nation. Taking to the media with a video, Nair, from Kollam, Kerala, pleaded with the government to intervene. We were taken from the ship to a room locked from the outside. Armed men guard the building,” he said.
