CHENNAI: 52-year old T Nagaraj, a resident of Tirukovilur in Kallakurichi is a worried man. Money lenders are knocking at his doors while Covid has affected the business at his tea shop. Now his hopes are pinned on the money that Mumbai-based RPSL agent Nimbus Maritime Services owe him for the last 18 months, as compensation for his son, a sailor, who was killed in a maritime accident in January 2019.
“My son Saravanan was employed with Nimbus Maritime Services. They placed him aboard the ill-fated MT Candy, which met with an accident in Russian waters,” says Nagaraj. “We are yet to hear anything from them about the compensation.” When Saravanan expressed his ambition to become a sailor, Nagaraj took a loan of Rs 4 lakh to help his son realise his dreams.
“After my brother’s death, my father and I went to Mumbai to discuss the compensation with Nimbus,” recalls Sivaraj. “They promised to pay us in the next 2-3 months. But the money never came. They kept giving us some update or the other till November. After that, even that stopped,” says Saravanan’s brother Sivaraj.
Silly excuses
What is surprising is that Nimbus has not declared the details for the Protection and Indemnity Insurance Club, a non-governmental cooperative association of marine insurance providers. In such events, the P&I Club usually settles the compensation. “The manning agent is giving excuses by stating a court in Russia is looking into the matter. I fail to understand why the P&I Club has not settled the compensation. Nimbus Maritime is silent on this,” says Sivaraj.
Sivaraj says when he tried to contact Sameer Dalvi of Nimbus, Dalvi was trying to shield himself giving the excuse of Covid. In a mail to Sivaraj, accessed by Express, he said that due to current situation prevailing globally due to Covid- 19 virus, the courts in Moscow have been closed since Jan 2020 as such there has been no recent updates on the case filed against the Insurance company, which we had informed to all the families. Director General of Shipping Amitabh Kumar told Express that action will be taken against the agent if it was an intended delay on their part.
Advocate P Muthuamy, legal co-ordinator Sailors Helpline, said, "It is the responsibility of the manning agent to immediately make arrangements for interim compensation. The family is financially shattered and Nimbus Maritime Services cannot take refuge under the pretext of COVID or the court case. There is a moral and legal obligation on the part of the manning agency to ensure the family receives proper death compensation without delay. The DG shipping to take immediate action and ensure the family does not collapse under financial burden."
Meanwhile, the family of Saravanan is worried over the RPSL license of Nimbus lapsing next year. "The RPSL license of the company is valid till 2021 and we are afraid if the license gets over, the company may not pay the compensation amount at all," says Sivaraj.