Floating status

Sailing solo around the world is not only dangerous but also lonesome. But any sailor would feel lonely and stressed even if he or she is onboard a vessel that is stationary.

Take the case of Mohammad Aisha, the Syrian chief mate of the Bahraini-flagged MV Aman that is anchored off Suez port in Egypt. In last week’s video interview of Aisha with a BBC

correspondent covering his plight aboard the container ship, the sad- and weary-faced seafarer said he badly misses his family.

As Egyptian authorities bar him from leaving the ship, he was unable to see his mother for the last time when she died two years ago.

Bugs, flies, mosquitoes and rats are now the only companion of Aisha. The last of the crewmembers of Aman left the ship in October, making him the solo master, engineer, cook and deckhand for more than five months now.

Aggravating his loneliness is the vessel’s lack of power, food and water. Aisha swims to shore and back every few days to get provisions and to charge his smartphone.

Aisha was only two months into his job aboard the Aman in May 2017 when it was detained by Egyptian authorities over its expired safety equipment and certificates. The ship’s owner then abandoned the freighter and its crew, leaving Aisha as the court-appointed guardian until he is replaced or the vessel is sold. Since then, the Aman became Aisha’s “floating prison.”

Aisha appealed for help to be repatriated on the BBC video interview citing his deteriorating health.

Incidentally, a Turkish captain with a similar case as Aisha’s also suffered the same unsafe condition and isolation in an abandoned ship.

Capt. Vehbi Kara was caught in a dispute between the shipowner and unpaid crewmembers of the bulk carrier MV Kenan Mete in September.

The vessel was stranded at the Egyptian port of Adabiya in the Suez Canal, while labor lawyers worked to secure the back wages of the sailors from insurers. By January this year, the 25-man crew was repatriated, but Kara was appointed by the court as guardian of Kenan Mete until the vessel is sold. Egyptian authorities seized the ship for auction so that creditors can be paid.

The captain managed to get a better accommodation than staying aboard the mice-infested ship. In February, authorities allowed the complaining Kara to disembark and stay ashore in a hotel.

What was supposed to be a relief for Kara turned out to be a trap; he was not allowed to leave the Red Sea Hotel since then.

WJG