Ship Detained 'Unlawfully' in Equatorial Guinea, 16 Indian Crew Members Appeal for help

As many as 16 Indian sailors, who are among 26-member crew of a ship detained in Equatorial Guinea on the west coast of central Africa, have sought help to get them released.

The sailors released a statement, saying that the Norwegian-flagged MT Heroic Idun “was arrested by the Equatorial Guinea naval ship in international waters on 12th August 2022 and was brought to Luba port in Equatorial Guinea under naval escort”, Hindustan Times reported.

The sailors said they have been threatened with a lethal action if they do not follow the orders.

“We, the crew of MT Heroic Idun would like to request for help and assistance to get us released and be brought back to India from Equatorial Guinea where we have been held unlawfully since 14th August 2022. The vessel has a total crew of 26 persons, and out of that we have 16 Indians, 8 Sri Lankans, 1 Polish and 1 Filipino national onboard,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said

his ministry is making efforts to bring the Indian nationals back home.

India in Equatorial Guinea said they are closely monitoring developments and are actively engaged for an early resolution of the issue.

On August 14, 15 crew members, including nine Indians, were taken ashore and are in detention at Malabo since then while 11 crew members, including six Indians, were left on the ship.

“The owners, managers and crew of the vessel have fully cooperated with all the investigations carried out by the Equatorial Guinea authorities,” the statement said.

The ship was supposed to load a cargo of crude oil in Nigeria’s AKPO terminal on August 8, but the loading operation was delayed and the ship never had any operations in Nigeria, according to Hindustan Times.

Nigerian officials question the crew members three times who said that they were detained by the Equatorial Guinean Navy based on a request made by Nigeria.

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