Board of Directors - SPIC

                                                   Dr. AC Muthiah, Chairman Emeritus

Board of Directors

                                                   Thiru Ashwin C Muthiah, Chairman

·         Thiru MS Shanmugam, IAS, Director

·         Thiru TK Arun, Director

·         Thiru B Elangovan, Director

·         Thiru M Jayasankar, Director

·         Thiru B Narendran, Director

·         Thirumathi Neeta Mukerji, Director

·         Thiru KK Rajagopalan, Whole time Director

Lying, Cheating and Indian Manning

Mr. Ramakrishnan Seshadri, an Indian Marine Engineering Officer sailed on board a ‘V-Ships’ company ship. He had a fight with the Second Engineer whom he beat up in a savage manner. The Captain of the ship made a D.R (Declined Report) remark on his CDC (Continuous Discharge Certificate or seaman’s career record book).

In the Merchant Navy, once you get a D.R remark in the ‘General Conduct’ section of your CDC, you will not get a job in any company, nor will you be able to sit for competency ticket examinations. So, now, what happens?

 Mr. Ramakrishnan Seshadri filed a totally false police complaint that he had kept his CDC in a cupboard at home, which caught fire. Saying the CDC got fully burnt, he filed an FIR (First Information Report) with the police. With this police FIR and plenty of “string-pulling” (his father was an influential officer in the railways with contacts in Directorate General of Shipping), he got a new CDC made. In this new CDC, he conveniently deleted entry of that particular ship where he got a D.R remark. He is even now sailing on this duplicate CDC.

Mr. Pritam Singh is the nephew of then Director of DG Shipping, Mr. R.G. Singh. He walked into his uncle’s office and simply stole the examination papers from his uncle’s desk. He then proceeded to inform all his batchmates as to what questions are being asked in Engineering Drawing, Applied Mechanics and Heat Engine examination papers. He passed by this fraudulent means and so did all of his batchmates.

Mr. Vinay Mathur, son of then Harbour Master of Calcutta Port Trust, Captain Surinder Mohan Mathur. He made a mess of a ‘safety question’ i.e. question related to safety equipment and installations, and told everybody about it. This question was with regard to the construction of a soda acid fire extinguisher. It is the unwritten rule in India, that surveyors don’t pass you if you make a mistake in a ‘safety question’. But Mr. Mathur was passed by surveyor Mr. Amitava Banerjee.

At Kolkata, there appears to be a "quota" to pass substandard local marine workshop apprentices for every DMETian being passed. Otherwise how does one explain the following two cases?

Mr. Sukhendu Bandyopadhyay sailed with me on M.V. Varanasi (SCI ship, official no.:2168 ) and displayed shockingly low level of knowledge. When the Main Engine had to be stopped at mid-sea, as soon as it was changed over from Heavy oil to Diesel oil, he immediately stopped the Main Engine! He did not understand that it takes at least 20 minutes for diesel oil to come in the line. He did not know what is a ‘Mixing Column’, what is its purpose, and how it works. How does a person with zero knowledge of the ‘main engine fuel oil system’, pass his 2^nd Class Part B examination? This incident took place in the warm tropical waters off the coast of Singapore (the ship was saved). What if the main engine had to be started after finishing work, in the icy Baltic Sea (only God can help)? He had been passed by surveyor Mr. Subimal Chakraborty.

Mr. Avijit Manna is another such case. When the exhaust gas economizer caught fire in M.V. Varanasi (SCI Ship, Official no.:2168 ), as Second Engineer he insisted that I should ‘soot-blow’ the economizer! Whereas, this is exactly what one should NOT do. He doesn’t know what is a metal burning self-generating fire. He has also been passed by surveyor Mr. Subimal Chakraborty.

Surveyors tend to treat their MMDs as personal fiefdoms. Dr. P. Misra, Principal Officer, Mercantile Marine Department, Chennai, refused to allow candidates to appear for their 2nd Class Part B ticket simply because they sailed with foreign companies, when all other MMDs were allowing them to take the exam?

Once you get your ticket, there is no punitive action taken for displaying criminal negligence towards work on board a vessel.

There was a Mr. Rathore as Third Engineer on board Chowgule Steamship’s vessel M.V. Maratha Prudence ( Chowgule ship, official no.:2010 ) who was asked to clean the lubricating oil cooler of one Auxiliary Engine. After cleaning the cooler, he failed to box it up properly. He started the Auxiliary Engine and put the fuel lever on START not RUN. On START, all the trips like ‘lubricating oil low pressure trip’ are bypassed. The oil stated pouring out of the lubricating oil cooler as it wasn’t boxed up properly. After all the oil in the engine had leaked out, the Auxiliary Engine seized. Neither the company nor the Mercantile Marine Department took any action against Mr. Rathore. He got away scot free with no D.R remark under the ‘General Ability’ section of his CDC.

3^rd Engineer Mr. Kadam on board the ship M.V. Eternity (Denholm Shipmanagement Official No.: 383769, Singapore flag) used to sleep in the Engine Control Room during watch, while the ship was maneuvering. He did not adjust the Main Engine Jacket Cooling Water Temperature, and two liners cracked. Nothing happened to him. He was neither censured by the Chief Engineer, nor did the Indian Mercantile Marine Department take any action against him.

Chief Engineer Mr. Sheikh, asked me to take bunker (fuel oil for the engine) on the same ship, to the quantity of 95% of the volume of the bunker tanks. He additionally asked for the list of the ship to be adjusted by operating the fuel oil bunker tank valves. For doing so, he said that he would remain in the Cargo Control Room (CCR) and would come out and tell me how much was the list of the ship from the clinometer hanging in the CCR. Instead, he did not come out when the bunker operation was almost over. I had to run up to see the clinometer, by which time oil poured out of the bunker tank sounding pipe. This was because I saw him fast asleep in the CCR. It was entirely his mistake that he was sleeping during duty hours, instead he took out his anger on me by refusing to give me my watchkeeping certificate. Also it is a standing rule in shipping that when topping-up of a tank is going on, the engineer is supposed to be only near the sounding pipes, not rushing two decks above to see the clinometer in the CCR, nor adjusting the bunker tank valves for adjusting the ship’s list. Besides, no sensible company will take fuel more than 90% bunker tank capacity.

Foreign shipping companies or FOSMA companies (Foreign Owners Ship Management Association), recruit officers and crew from India, by impounding their passport and CDC (Continuous Discharge Certificate or seaman’s record book). How can this be permitted when the CDC and passport are private documents belonging to the person, rather than the companies. How can shipping companies who indulge in such practices be allowed to function from Indian soil? They are clearly violating Indian Labour Laws.

Ship MV Kapitan K was berthed in Mumbai Port Trust. The cadet Sandip Acharya was so fed up with torture and harassment by Second Officer Suhas. K. Patil, that he stabbed him and Second Officer Suhas K. Patil died. Such is the harassment in Indian manning, that it leads to crazed anger from junior officers.

board of directors - essar shipping

                                          shashi ruia

                                                    ravi ruia

                                               prashant ruia

                                                       anshuman ruia

                                                      rewant ruia

                                                      smiti kanodia

ministry of shipping

reply to second and third enquiry

To

    Mr. R.M. Elango

    Deputy Shipping Master

    Mercantile Marine Department

    Chennai

Dear Sir,

 Received your letter dated 7.7.’10 on 15.7.’10. I answered this letter by e-mail on 2-8-2010, Monday, time: 18:25:00, and once more, a reminder on 14-8-2010 at time: 10:28:20. I answered the letter by post on 16-9-2010 (registered post receipt enclosed). Have once again sent you all particulars on 31-01-2011 (registered post receipt enclosed), which you have acknowledged receipt of on 7-2-2011 (acknowledgement card copy enclosed).             

Answering the points you have raised…

Those two months caused extreme damage to my ears. All the while, throughout the day, I was in the generator bilges, the dark, dank, space with the four-stroke engines’ high pitch noise blasting my ears. The sound used to ricochet off the plates and ship side and attack my ears unceasingly and unendingly. Once NIHL (Noise Induced Hearing Loss) has set in, further deterioration takes place in the coming years despite all I could do to protect my ears. Especially as I was subjected to even worse treatment in my next ship, SPIC Tankers.

The medical examination conducted before joining the ship, was cursory at the best. 

After Essar ship I suffered initial hearing loss but it was not profound as it is now. But the damage had already been done and the downslide of my hearing had begun.

Though the torture had left me mentally scarred, I had to earn my living. I applied to SPIC Tankers and they asked me to leave in a hurry. Ideally, I would have liked to have had some time to recuperate, but it was not to be. SPIC asked me to get on board immediately and there was a gap of five days only before I boarded MT SPIC Pearl.

Don’t say

“He was the only person on 2 vessels belonging to different organizations, was picked for so called in-human treatment, this could not have been a coincidence and needs further investigation”.

I can say from my experience that several people have suffered mind-numbingly bad behaviour by senior officers in various organizations. Only, they haven’t complained to you. 

When you complain to an Indian Captain or Chief Engineer, they always reply in a typical manner – “Only you have come to us with such a complaint. Nobody else has. So, that means there must be something wrong with YOU”. This is a very negative, head-in-the-sand approach, pulling down the reputation of Indian manning all over the world. 

And who told you that the majority are right?

There are countless well known examples from history and recent history that the majority is always wrong. E,g, Nazi Germany against the Jews, anti-Sikh riots in Delhi 1984, Gujarat 2002, many, many examples of majority being wrong. Read famous playwright Henrik Ibsen. In ‘An Enemy of the people’, he shows very clearly that the ‘A minority may be right; a majority is always wrong’. E.g. In a gang-rape, the majority are raping. So, you mean to say they are right? 

Next, take this line

“He was the only person on two vessels belonging to different organizations, was picked for so called inhuman treatment. This could not have been a coincidence and needs further investigation”.

Regarding the above accusation, the first thing I want to say is that, ‘however I behaved, you certainly do not have the right to permanently disable me’.

Where Indian manning is concerned, there are quite a few cases of the whole ship ganging up against the hapless cadet, torturing him, and his committing suicide. So, there is nothing unusual in my being harassed by a second company, SPIC after Essar.

shiva

second and third enquiry by MMD

reply to first enquiry

To

Mr. RM Elango

Dy. Shipping Master

Chennai

Dear Sir,

              For your kind information, your letter dated 22-06-2010 (letter no. 133/SM/CHN/08/131)reached me only on 3-7-2010. I promptly replied by e-mail on 11-7-2010. Unfortunately, somebody in your office seems to have blocked all e-mails from me. Suspecting something amiss, I sent my reply to letter dated 22-6-2010 by post on 17-8-2010 (registered post receipt copy enclosed), which you have acknowledged receipt of on 20-8-2010 (Acknowledgement Due card copy enclosed). I had also answered all your points by e-mail on 11-7-2010, Sunday, time: 18:47:36 hours. Have once again sent you all the particulars on 31-01-2011 (registered post receipt enclosed), which you have acknowledged receipt of on 7-02-2011 (acknowledgement card copy enclosed).

I have taken up this issue with SPIC and Essar Shipping. Their response has been a deafening silence. Neither SPIC nor Essar has replied to my letters and e-mails.

I have taken up the matter with ITF, MUI, IMO, OCIMF, Intertanko, P&I clubs, MMD Hong Kong, DOT UK, USCG, AMSA, DNV, ABS, LRS, BV, Greenpeace, Seamen’s Church, Amnesty International, Human Rights Asia Watch, and other Human Rights organisations. They were shocked by what is going on, on Indian ships.

I have taken up the issue with the Indian Government authorities as well. The response has been a deafening silence from MMDs in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi. I have written and e-mailed letters to Mrs. Lakshmi Venkatachalam, Director DG Shipping.

No, I am not in a position to substantiate and prove my claim in a Court of Law, simply because the Indian Senior Officers refused to give the order (banning ear muffs), in writing. As a Fifth Engineer, the junior-most officer in the Engine Room, I could not force them to give the order in writing. They insisted on giving the order only orally. When I requested them, they threatened violence and other dire consequences. The Captain threatened to tear my CDC and throw it into the water.

first enquiry by MMD

next letter from MMD after one-and-a-half years!

Note how MMD has preferred to adopt a head-in-the-sand approach, hoping the problem will go away. The maritime administration of a superpower did not reply for one-and-a-half years.

letter from MMD in 2008