While merchant ships across the world have been manned by Indian seafarers, officers, engineers and crew for years, recent conflicts have suddenly brought Indian seafarers into focus. A recent flashpoint was when the U.S. attacked three ships allegedly carrying Iranian cargo, on the grounds that they were sanctioned vessels. Three Indian seafarers were killed in those attacks. More recently, when the British detained a Russian-linked vessel that was supposedly under Western sanctions in the English Channel, the Indian captain was arrested. This raises an important question: should Indian seafarers continue serving on these so-called sanctioned ships? Ajith Sukumaran and Biswanath Gupta discuss this question in a conversation moderated by M. Kalyanaraman. Edited excerpts:
Could you give us some some background on Indian seafarers in general?Ajith Sukumaran: Only recently has society started realising the importance of shipping, but unfortunately from a negative point of view. Whether it was the Titanic, the Exxon Valdez incident, or more recent maritime accidents, shipping has often been in the news for the wrong reasons. But the fact is that shipping carries around 90% of global trade by volume. It is the lifeline of modern society.
