Mangalore: Detained Capt Glen Patrick Aroza Absolved of Charges
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)
Mangalore, Mar 27: It is learnt that Captain Glen Patrick Aroza from the city, who was in charge of the Japanese cargo carrier, M T Tosa, and is under detention in Taiwan since about a year, on a complaint that a local fishing trawler had sunk, and two of its fishermen had gone missing, after colliding with his ship, has been absolved of all the charges framed against him. The charge of ‘involuntary manslaughter’ had been framed against him. Reports say that Aroza has been absolved of all the charges by a three-judge bench on Friday March 26.
The ship he had captained, had been intercepted midway, and led by the Taiwanese Coast guard to Hua Lien port in Taiwan on April 18, 2009. The second officer of the ship, who is from Bangladesh, who was on navigation watch at the time, and a Phillipino seaman on look out duty, have also been detained.
The arguments in favour of Capt Aroza were that as per the international law, the ship crew should have been tried only in Panama, under which flag it was sailing at the time, and not Taiwan, as the ship was in the high seas when it was intercepted. The Captain had given charge of the ship to his second officer, and he came to know of the charges only after the Taiwanese Coast Guard approached him, after about ten hours. Hence, it was wrong on the part of the Taiwanese authorities, to have forcibly guided the ship to a port of that country from the high seas, and charging the Captain of the alleged incidents when he was off duty, it was pointed out.
The argument of the Taiwanese authorities that the crew of the ship failed to render assistance to the ship in distress and that the captain had failed to train his second officer, were also found to be not valid, as the trawler in question had not sent out any distress signals.
However, as the bench has given ten days’ time for the prosecution to go for an appeal against this verdict, the captain will not be set free immediately, it is gathered. As the verdict is in Chinese, it needs to be translated word by word into English before it can be properly studied. So, the actual contents of the order are yet to be verified and confirmed.
Capt Aroza was not on duty at the time the alleged incident had occurred in the international waters, and the voyage data recorder of the ship had revealed that it had not come into contact with any vessel during its voyage before being intercepted by the Taiwanese Coast Guard. Allegedly, another Japanese crude carrier, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, had come into contact with the said trawler.
Daijiworld spoke to Manoj, national coordinator for Sailors' Helpline, based in Chennai. He said that the verdict exonerating Capt Aroza could be possible because of wholehearted efforts put in by various organizations and associations working for the welfare of sailors, functioning all over the world. Capt Aroza is not allowed to leave Taiwan as at present. While sounding a word of caution that there might be further delays because of legal requirements before securing Aroza’s release, he expressed the hope that the detained captain will be a free man at the end of the ten-day period given for appeal.
All the Mangaloreans and people of the twin-districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada are with Aroza family in praying that the Captain will be released from his detention at the earliest, and that the ordeals of the captain and his family members will come to an end soon.