Post by Dr Gopinath Chandroth

Puppets and Puppet Masters (Gopi Chandroth) I attended the first hearing of Captain Ajay Pant of M.T. Smyrtos yesterday at the Magistrates’ Court in Southampton. This is the case of the oil tanker Smyrtos carrying 98,000 tonnes of oil from Russia. Captain Pant gave no indication of plea, leaving that for the case hearing at the Crown Court on 16 July. The legal issues involved are complex. The English Channel is an international thoroughfare and, just as the Indian Ocean does not belong to India, the Channel is not the property of England. Ships of all nations pass through it every day. Smyrtos was reportedly in UK waters at the time of its arrest. The prosecution alleges that the vessel was involved in activities prohibited under UK sanctions regulations. Another factor may have been the vessel’s registration status. Apparently, Cameroon had deregistered Smyrtos, along with 35 other vessels said to be associated with the Russian shadow fleet. If the deregistration had taken effect, it may have been regarded as stateless. The vessel’s apparent lack of a valid flag state may also have strengthened the UK’s legal basis for intervention. Whether the master was aware of the deregistration, or that the voyage allegedly breached sanctions regulations, remains to be established. The case reminded me of an investigation I conducted while at the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB). A master had been instructed to carry a cargo that was not listed in the IMSBC (International Maritime Solid Bulk Cargoes Code). The cargo subsequently generated hydrogen, leading to an explosion. Throughout the affair, the master remained acquiescent. This happens throughout the maritime industry, irrelevant of the nationalities involved. My sympathies are with Captain Pant. How many of us have walked off a ship or challenged an owner or manager when instructed to do something we believed was unlawful or unsafe? Especially in an industry where employment can be precarious, how many would risk their livelihood? How many defy-masters are there amongst us? In the public gallery in court, I sat next to a young reporter from Sky News. She asked me how to pronounce ‘Ajay’. The rest of the media, including the BBC, seemed content to call him A.J. Pant. What a bastardisation of a meaningful name like Ajay that means invincible in Sanskrit. I wish Captain Pant good luck and hope his legal team is able to establish the extent to which operational pressure and employment insecurity within shipping influenced the decisions made onboard. We seafarers recognise the difficult position of a master balancing compliance, safety, and the practical realities of complying with orders from sometimes dubious and opaque management structures. I also hope the case eventually demonstrates the helplessness of the Master and his crew when faced with conflicting legal and commercial demands. Don’t kill the puppets, look for the puppet masters.