The Panama flag vessel m.v. Meem that was sold to a cash buyer for further
sale to a ship breaker the vessel that was heading towards Alang ship breaking yard
at Gujarat for being beached for demolition, was ordered to be arrested by
the Admiralty Judge the Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.J. Kathawala of the Bombay
High Court on August 12, 2013 in a legal action initiated by Al-bahriah
Insurance & Re-insurance S.A.L. Counsel Mr. Rahul Narichania appeared for
the new vessel owner. It appears that the vessel was enroute to Alang but
not clear if she had entered Indian territorial waters when the legal
action was filed in the Bombay High Court under admiralty jurisdiction.
Shortly after coming alongside in Nacala on 15 March 2013, SAS AMATOLA
received a call from a Panamanian vessel (MV MEEM) in distress at anchor
in Nacala Bay. The vessel was at anchor because she was refused a berth
alongside in order to refuel and take on victuals due to a dispute between
her owners, her agent and the port authorities. The MV MEEM had been at
anchor since the 11th February 2013. Her last port of call was Mogadishu
(Somalia) and she was going to be scrapped when she arrived back at her
home port before being sold to a cash buyer for demolition at Alang.
The Captain of the MV MEEM primarily requested medical
assistance as he had three critically ill personnel on board; presumably
infected with the malaria parasite. One of his men had already died a few
days earlier. As this was in SAS AMATOLA’s opinion a matter of life and
death, a decision was made to send the Executive Officer and a medical
team with the doctor from SAS AMATOLA to assist with medication and food
for the Ship’s Company.
Once on board, the situation was found to be poor. The
ventilation system of the vessel was not working due to a shortage of
diesel which made the inside of the ship almost inhabitable due to the
heat. The crew was thus forced to sleep outside where they were freely
being bitten by mosquitoes; hence the malaria. The three patients tested
positive for malaria and the doctor provided them with medicine. Excluding
the Captain (Captain Mohamed Javeed) there were 19 people in onboard total
(13 Pakistanian, 4 Indians, 1 Egyptian and 1 Bangladesh).
