MARGAO
Even as the Director General of Shipping has turned down the request for further relaxation for seafarers debarred from applying for Indian CDC, the Goan Seamen Association of India (GSAI) has knocked the doors of Union Shipping Minister Shripad Naik to consider granting one more year of relaxation for the affected seafarers.
In fact, in a letter to the Union Shipping Minister, GSAI urged Naik to consider one more year of relaxation since most of the seafarers had applied in the year 2019 and have to wait for one more year. “Our seafarers are already jobless for almost two years due to Covid-19 pandemic, since it is a matter of livelihood of seafarers related to their employment,” GSAI president Frank Viegas stated.
He said most of the shipping companies have started insisting on Indian CDC as a mandatory document, whereas CDC is considered even for visa application or visa renewal and to renew some of the STCW courses. “GSAI has pleaded with Director General of Shipping Amitabh Kumar and Union Minister of Shipping Shripad Naik to do the needful by granting one more year and to keep one year as a punishment for committing the offence or best solution acceptable to them, so our seafarers jobs are secured who are out at sea for several years,” Frank said.
The GSAI’s letter to the Union Shipping Minister comes after the Director General of Shipping had turned down the plea for further relaxation in the matter after granting relaxations on two occasions.
The DG, Shipping circular states that candidates who were found to have submitted false/ fake, forged documents for obtaining CDCs were debarred for life from taking up a career at sea in the Merchant Navy.
The debarment period was brought down to five years, which was later reduced to three years after GSAI took up the matter with Shripad Naik, during his stint as the Union Ayush Minister.
The DG, Shipping also accepted the request of GSAI for amendment of Para 7 of the DGS circular no 34 of 2020 that debarment of three years from the date of its issue may be modified.
