NEW DELHI: Onus of this Mumbai barge tragedy might wind up in the doorway of Durmast Enterprises Ltd below the global regulatory regime for both seafaring boats and employees because the incident happened beyond India’s territorial border expanding around 12 nautical miles from the shore.
Durmast possesses the unlucky barge’Papaa 305′ which has been chartered by Afcons Infrastructure to an ONGC contract.
A total of 75 individuals died as the floatel barge, taking 261 on board, broke anchor from cyclone Tauktae and sank on May 19 after hitting on a local ONGC offshore system from the Mumbai coast.
Another 11 expired as tugboat Varapada capsized.
A panel setup by the petroleum ministry and Mumbai authorities are individually exploring the tragedy to discover potential lapses and repair responsibility.
Folks in the know say the research will likely be directed by International Labour Organisation’s Maritime Labour Convention and International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, known as’SOLAS’.
These are just two of those four pillars of international maritime regulatory regime and also manage the protection of seafarers and boats.
“SOLAS places the onus of security of boat and staff on the mind (captain/master) of this marine crew manning a boat and its proprietor.
The episode happened past the territorial border where Indian labor legislation and also even the Industrial Disputes Act don’t apply.
Although ONGC could be regarded as the primary company, it’ll be tricky to pin down the onus on the business unless lapses on its own role have been created,” a source said.
ONGC has three senior executives managing offshore operations to guarantee a reasonable probe but hasn’t debarred Afcons and its partners from functioning in additional ONGC jobs.
Mumbai police had summoned five firms for statements following lodging a complaint of culpable homicide.
The two ONGC and Afcons have declared money and other aid to the family of the dead person also for people rescued.
The employees were hired with the builders.
An Afcons announcement on May 21 seemed to place the attribute on the barge master’s misjudgement.
“The unfortunate Afcons barge Papaa 305 moved just 200 metres from the unmanned offshore system at which it had been functioning, a space the Master seems to have believed secure according to projections of cyclone Tauktae’s end speed and melancholy,” the announcement said.
Apart from MLC and SOLAS, you’ll find other traditions – that the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships (MARPOL) and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watch-keeping (STCW).