CHENNAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Friday passed an interim order to detain Panamanian flagship vessel MV Navios Venus for three weeks, after it collided with mechanised boat Siju Mon-I 20 nautical miles off Colachel coast last week, injuring 17 fishermen.
“Given the strong possibility of the vessel leaving India’s territorial jurisdiction unless detained, there shall be an interim direction to Director General of Shipping, Deputy Conservator Mumbai Port Trust and Commandant, Indian Coast Guard Western region, to detain ship MV Navios Venue presently lying at the Port of Mumbai. The order of detention shall operate for a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order,” said Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy.
He was hearing the arguments of T Mohan, representing the owner of the mechanised boat P Rajamani. Rajamani has sought the ship to be detained as per sections 443 and 444 of Merchant Shipping Act for causing damage to Indian citizens and until fair compensation is determined and paid to the victims.
“The petitioner alleges that the vessel was operating in violation of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972. The petitioner asserts that the ship flies a Panama flag and therefore, if such ship is permitted to sail beyond the territorial waters of India, the petitioner and persons injured in the collision will be left without remedy,” the judge observed while passing the interim direction.
After the collision, the merchant vessel did not provide any humanitarian assistance as mandated by law, and instead the ship master proceeded on his course to the next port. The collision is solely due to negligence on the part of Navios Venus and therefore the shipping company, Protection & Indemnity Insurance (P&I) club and flag state administration is liable to pay compensation to client’s family and boat, alleged Rajamani in his petition. The incident happened on October 22, when the boat was preparing for fishing.