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The Bombay High Court has ordered the 16 crew members stranded on board a ship owned by bankruptcy-bound TAG Offshore Ltd to disembark without attracting any civil and/or criminal liability for leaving the ship that was arrested in early April to recover dues worth ₹80.07 lakh for supply of grease and lubricants.
It is considered unlawful to disembark from a ship without the permission of the Director-General of Shipping, India’s maritime administration.
MT Tag Navya is currently in the possession of the Sheriff of Mumbai after the Bombay High Court ordered her arrest on April 2 on an admiralty suit separately brought by SES Bunkering Pvt Ltd.
TAG Offshore was formed in 2003 by demerging the offshore business of Essar Shipping Ltd. The Mumbai-based firm offers marine support services to offshore oil exploration, production, marine construction, port and terminal activities. The top management of the firm is related to the Ruia brothers, the promoters of Essar Group.
Weighed down by financial stress, the fleet owner has not paid salaries to its crew for more than six months, according to one of the crew members.
On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court allowed the 16 sailors to disembark from the arrested ship on a petition filed by nine of the 16 sailors.
“The lives of the petitioners who are stranded on the subject vessel are in jeopardy. In these extreme and emergent circumstances, we cannot afford not to intervene, so as to protect the lives of hapless crewmen on the ground that monetary claim and counter claims await adjudication before various forums. In view thereof, we permit the petitioners to disembark from the said vessel forthwith without the petitioners being visited with any civil and/or penal consequences,” the court ordered.
On April 24, the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted a petition brought by an operational creditor R H Petroleum Pvt Ltd to initiate corporate insolvency resolution process against TAG Offshore under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
NCLT has appointed Pramod Mulgund as the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) to oversee the insolvency process.
R H Petroleum moved NCLT to recover ₹80.07 lakh for supply of grease and lubricants to TAG Offshore.
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