The Hindu Business Line : Agitating crew prevent M V Nicobar sail off

M V Nicobar, the Port Blair-bound passenger ship with 756 passengers on board, could not sail off last night from the Kidderpore dock here following agitation by a section of crew. The agitating crew manhandled the master of the ship when he tried to sail off with the help of officers and some Navy personnel on board, according to port sources.

There will be yet another move tonight to sail off. If it fails, the ship will be neaped (left aground on the height of a spring tide, so that it will not float till the next spring tide.) for another 10 days because of the low tide condition in the Hooghly River. Which means the ship will be stranded for the period.

The passengers, a large number of them with limited means and hailing from distant places, are therefore having anxious moments. If the present sailing is cancelled, they will be in difficulty as the next sailing will be uncertain and there is no way many of them can stay in the city. The Andaman & Nicobar Administration, which runs the service between the island and the mainland, has threatened to withdraw services from the Kolkata Dock System if the agitation persists; instead, the services will be operated from Haldia and Paradip.

The crew behind the present agitation are known as Bazarmen. They are actually canteen workers responsible for cooking and delivery of food on board and employed by a private contractor. Earlier, the canteen contractor used to be appointed by the Shipping Corporation of India. Not any more. Now he is appointed by the A&N Administration. In September 2002, when A&N Administration took over, a new canteen contractor was appointed in place of the earlier one appointed by SCI. However, the new contractor absorbed 26 of the bazarmen employed by the earlier contractor but under new terms and conditions. The agitation is believed to be over the differences between the agitating crew, with the backing of the CITU-affiliated Forward Seamen's Union of India, and the Administration over the pay. The Administration refuses give in to the union's demand. The issues in dispute are sub-judice and the Administration, it is claimed, is strictly going by the court order.

FSUI, according to its General Secretary, Mr Sadhan Kanjilal, too is opposed to the detention of "M V Nicobar". "Let the canteen contractor clear the dues of the bazarmen as per the agreement and there will be no problem," he observed.