IPC likely to cover sailors on high seas

Indian sailors working on foreign vessels may soon be covered by the Indian Penal Code (IPC), even when they are beyond the territorial waters of the country as per a shipping ministry proposal.

The ministry is working on a draft which will soon be forwarded to the law ministry for being vetted.

According to sources, the director-general shipping has been asked to prepare a paper for the International Maritime Organisation's upcoming conference to highlight the problems faced by India in connection with disappearance of its sailors. In the last one year alone, five such cases have been reported.

"At present, families of missing sailors find it difficult to deal with foreign flagship vessels, as they are not governed by the IPC. This would strengthen the arm of the Indian government and the affected families," a senior official said.

According to the official, a crime that occurs on a foreign vessel traversing Indian waters or on an Indian vessel in foreign waters would not cause a problem since India has jurisdiction over its waters and the vessel.

However, when an Indian sailor working on a foreign vessel is killed on the high seas or in the territorial waters of a foreign country, the Indian government simply cannot intervene.

The ministry has been concerned about growing cases of disappearance of sailors. A tug boat, Jupiter, with a crew of 10 Indian sailors, disappeared without a trace close to the South African coast last September while towing a vessel to Alang for shipbreaking.

Although the director-general shipping is inquiring into the case, no new facts have emerged yet and it is still not known whether the sailors are dead or alive.

Apart from this case, at least five Indian sailors have disappeared in the vicinity of far away coasts such as North America and Lithuania. While shipping companies have suggested suicide to explain some cases, sailors' families refuse to buy the idea.