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Karnataka HC upholds criminal case under Indian laws against APL Le Havre

The High Court of Karnataka has upheld the registration of a criminal case under the Indian laws against the 'APL Le Havre', for causing a collision with the fishing boat 'Rabah' from Kerala in international water off Mangaluru coast on April 13, 2021, about 42 nautical miles off Mangaluru coast and resulting in the death 12 fishermen. Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while dismissing a petition filed by CMA CGM Asia Shipping PTE Ltd., Singapore. The petitioner-company had questioned the prosecution in India while contending that the provisions of India’s Merchant Shipping Act, 1958, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.PC) were not applicable to it as it has no presence in India, and registration of the case under these laws is contrary to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), 1982. A criminal case was registered in August 2021 by the Merchantile Marine Department after a preliminary inquiry found negligence in the operation of petitioner’s ship. Of the total 14 fishermen (seven each from Tamil Nadu and West Bengal) onboard the fishing boat, six had died as their bodies were recovered, six others were considered dead as their bodies were not traced, and two other were rescued. After analysing the laws, including the apex court’s 2013 judgment in the Italian marines’ case, the High Court has said that the provisions of India’s Maritime Zones Act, 1976 are applicable for the petitioner as the incident had occurred within India’s exclusive economic zone, which extends up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline even though the ship is ‘flagged outside India’. The court also pointed out that the notification issued under the Maritime Zones Act makes the provisions of the IPC and the Cr.PC applicable to the India’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the international water. On the petitioner’s contention that penal action for collision in ‘high sea’ should be dealt with only by the ‘flag state’ of the vessel as per the articles UNCLOS, the court said that articles of the UNCLOS apply only to ‘high sea’ and not for India’s ‘exclusive economic zone’ in the international water.

Both container ship and fishing boat blamed for collision

The Union Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways in Chennai has held both the crew of the 'APL Le Havre' and the Kerala fisheries department responsible for the collision of the container ship with a Kerala-based fishing boat on April 13, 2021, in which six fishermen died and another six went missing. The report, released recently, pointed out that the crew of the container ship had very little knowledge on international rules governing sea collision. “The Second Officer was found deficient in his handling of the large container ship and lacked knowledge and understanding about the requirements of Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs),” the report stated. The 'APL Le Harve' en route from Singapore to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, Mumbai, hit the Kerala-based 'Rabah' 42 nautical miles off the coast of Mangalore. Out of the 14 fishermen, only two were found alive and out of the remaining 12, six bodies were found and six went missing. Out of the two fishermen found alive, one was from Ramanathapuram district and another was from West Bengal. The report also blamed the Kerala fisheries department for the incident. The fishing boat did not have an AIS, which was mandated by the Directorate General of Fishing. Moreover, the Kerala fishing department did not take care in issuing proper ID cards to fishermen and directed them to issue digitally encoded ID cards that cannot be tampered with.

APL Le Havre found guilty in deadly collision

Speeding and lapses on the part of the crew of the 'APL Le Havre. led to collision with the fishing vessel'IFB Rabah' pmn April 12, 2021, that killed six people, a probe by the Mercantile Marine Department has found. The container ship did not maintain a safe distance and continued sailing at 19.4 knots even after noticing the boat. The onvestigation into the collision also found that the ship's second officer on the bridge did not seek the captain's help even after realising the possibility of an impending collision. It was also found that the ship changed course only at the last moment. Report with photos: https://www.onmanorama.com/news/india/2022/02/03/reckless-singapore-ship-behind-fatal-crash-off-mangaluru-coast.html