After more than a year in Egypt, a master is returning home and prompting another round of calls by the International Transport Workers' Foundation (ITF) to change the country's legal guardian system.
The union said on Tuesday that Captain Vehbi Kara finally returned to his native Turkey last month after being stuck aboard the 11,715-dwt bulker Kenan Mete (built 1990) after its abandonment last year.
"The captain remained hostage like on board and was not allowed to leave, or even go ashore, despite the clear abandonment situation," Mohamed Arrachedi, ITF Arab World and Iran Network Coordinator, said.
"It was only when ITF took up his cause and we organised a replacement as judicial guard, after months of campaigning for his release, that Captain Kara was allowed to go home."
According to an International Labour Organization (ILO) database, the Kenan Mete was abandoned in August 2019. In the entry for the ship, flag state Panama said it had been moored at Al Adabiya since July 2020 and had been abandoned after a dispute between registered owner Blodwen Marine and the crew.
Kara's shipmates were repatriated, but the union said he was forced to stay after being made the Kenan Mete's legal guardian. Meanwhile, the Egyptian government unsuccessfully sought to auction the vessel to cover its debts.
The database said a crew member tested positive for Covid-19 in December and that its emergency generator failed in February.
Without power, the union said Kara was put in a hotel paid for by the ship's insurer, but was confined to his room until he was allowed to fly home in June.
Blodwen Marine shares an Istanbul address with technical and commercial manager RoyalMar Shipping & Ship Management.
RoyalMar did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reform necessary
The ITF likened Kara's ordeal to the "one-man humanitarian crisis" suffered by Mohammad Aisha.
Like Kara, Aisha was made the legal guardian of the 5,100-dwt general cargoship Aman (built 1999).
He was stuck aboard the ship for four years, 18 months of that alone. A lack of necessities forced Aisha to swim ashore for food and water and to charge his phone.
He was finally repatriated in April.
The ITF said Egypt must reform the legal guardian system so situations like Kara and Aisha's do not happen in the future.
“Port states like Egypt have a moral duty to help abandoned crew get home. Egypt has an opportunity now to reform its legal guardianship system — and we hope that they take up this opportunity,” Arrachedi said.
