Two Kangra sailors stuck in Nigeria for three months

DHARAMSHALA: For about three months, around a dozen seafarers including two from Kangra district have been stranded on the shores of Africa’s Nigeria after the vessel they were aboard, Sea Pearl – owned by a Mumbaibased company – was detained by the Nigerian Navy.

Sailors Atul Sharma of Rakkar Tehsil and Sudhir Kumar of Nagrota Bagwan have sent a video to their families through messaging apps in which they are seen requesting the Indian government for their evacuation. The families of stranded sailors on Monday also met the state chief of BJP’s woman wing, Indu Goswami, in Palampur, seeking her help.

Atul Sharma’s brother Aman said, “Their vessel was detained by the Nigerian Navy probably in the August end in a case pertaining to 2012.”

The stranded sailors had also approached the Indian Embassy in Nigeria for the help but to no avail and the company has not responded positively as well.

“Their essential supplies are running short and they have not been paid their salaries for the past three months,” Aman said.

Reema, wife of another sailor Sudhir Kumar, said, “We request the external affairs ministry to get my husband and others released as early as possible.”

The families, however, have no information about the 2012 case in which the vessel has been detained. Meanwhile, the video that the stranded sailors have shot at Lagos Port Nigeria is posted by a local news portal page which shows the two talking about how their vessel was detained and that they were running short of essential supplies.