Foreign Shippers Threaten Boycott of Sea Voyages to Korea
By Michael Ha
Staff Reporter
A court verdict last month on two foreign maritime officers involved in the Taean oil spill case is drawing scrutiny overseas.
Shipping organizations and unions abroad have strongly rebuked the verdict, which handed out prison sentences to two Indian crewmembers. One international union of maritime workers called the ruling ``incomprehensibly vindictive.''
And there has been talk about boycotting sea voyages to Korea and even a possibility of anti-Korean sentiment in India, according to reports.
Kirat Gopal Vaze, first secretary at the Embassy of India in Seoul, told The Korea Times Wednesday that ``as far as the welfare of these two Indians are concerned, they are in detention at the moment in the Cheongju Detention Center. And we are making our best efforts to ensure that they are well taken care of.''
``Lawyers have told us that appeals have now been filed before the Supreme Court,'' he added.
The controversy surrounds a Dec. 10, 2008, court ruling in the Taean oil spill incident, the largest oil spill in the country's history. The court gave Jasprit Chawla, master of the Hebei Spirit oil tanker, an 18-month jail term and Syam Chetan, the chief officer, an eight-month sentence. The oil tanker spilt more than 10,000 tons of crude oil into the West Sea on Dec. 7, 2007.
But critics say the two men and their oil tanker were ``passive victims,'' noting that their ship was sitting at anchor and that it leaked massive amounts of crude oil only after being rammed by a barge owned by Samsung Heavy Industries.
The International Transport Workers' Federation, a group of 654 unions representing 4.5 million maritime and transport workers in 148 countries, has publicly criticized the verdict.
``This is not justice. It's not even something close,'' the group stated. ``What we have seen is scapegoating, criminalization and a refusal to consider the wider body of evidence that calls into question the propriety of the court.''
It added, ``This decision is incomprehensibly vindictive and will impact on all professional mariners.''
``In December 2007, the anchored Hebei Spirit was hit by a Samsung barge, causing an oil spill. Since then, the officers have been unfairly detained in South Korea,'' the group contended.
The maritime group is calling upon union members and supporters to ``send letters to the Korean authorities expressing concern at the case.''
The group said that ``the one thing we can promise today is that this isn't over. The campaign to free these men will go on growing until the justice that was so glaringly absent in this court is done.''
In the first trial in June, the two foreign officers were exonerated, according to reports. But in the subsequent proceeding in the appeals court last December, the original ruling was overturned on the grounds that the Hebei Spirit crew should have done more to avoid the collision.
According to a report from the Financial Times, a U.K.-based newspaper, some maritime workers unions in India have started a campaign to boycott sea route voyages to Korea to protest the ruling.
According to the report, ``Any widespread boycott could pose serious problems for South Korea, which relies on ships to supply oil, gas and coal to meet nearly all its energy needs.''
The report also noted that a movement has begun in India to boycott Korean products.
michaelha@koreatimes.co.kr
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