MV Captain Ali, the ship on a mercy mission to Vanni in Sri Lanka has been anchored off the coast of Chennai. The ship carrying 884 ton of food, medicine and other relief materials for internally displaced Sri Lankan Tamils was turned away by Lankan Navy.
The ship has been denied permission to enter the Chennai port for the fifth consecutive day. The ship has been asked to move farther away from the coast amid rumours that the captain of the ships was instructed to do so by the Port following the pressure from the Centre, according to sources.
The Indian Navy suddenly checked the ship yesterday and after which the ship was further moved away from the coast of Chennai.
“Indian government not allowing the ship, which is only carrying humanitarian aid, to anchor in Chennai port without any valid reason is totally unacceptable,” says Agni Subramaniam executive director of Manitham, a human rights organisation.
The Captain of the ship, Kristjan Guomontsson, Iceland national and a former member of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) in an interview to TIMES NOW said that he has no clue as to why the aid was turned down by Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lankan Navy, thoroughly cheked the vessel and said that the ship was only carrying humanitarian aid, but it was turned away on the ground that it violated internationally accepted formalities followed by merchant ships seeking to enter Lankan waters and that it did not conform to the International Ships Port Facility Security (ISPS) code.
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