Staff Reporter
Port Blair, July 16: Think of a three day long sea journey in a ship, which doesn’t even have sufficient water for passengers. Won’t it be horrible? Recently, nearly 250 passengers travelling in MF Samsun have gone through this horrible experience while travelling from Campbell Bay to Port Blair.
According to information received here on 11th July, the passenger ship MF Samsun sailed for Port Blair from Campbell Bay with nearly 250 passengers onboard.
But to the utter dismay of the passengers, after travelling for nearly 10 hours they realized that the ship was supplying no water for lavatory use due to which, small children, ladies and old aged people gone through horrible time in the ship.
Later after intervention of the Campbell Wing of Human Rights Organisation, the authorities agreed to supply water but only for two hours a day, one hour in morning and one hour at night. When questioned by the passengers, officials in the ship told them that due to various technical problems, including water shortage, water could not be supplied 24 hours in the ship.
Here the million dollar question is that every ship is allowed to sail only after obtaining survey report that includes the verification and certification of availability of essential commodities and functioning of safety equipments in the ship.
In this case it is questionable on survey report how the ship was sailed without having sufficient water, which led to harassment of passengers.
Talking to Andaman Sheekha a few passengers complained that some of the deluxe class passengers were put in cabin class accommodation stating the reason that air conditioner in deluxe rooms are out of order, which is totally unfair.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Orgnisation has written a letter to the Lt. Governor of A & N Islands and demanded his urgent intervention.
This is not the first time when reports of negligence of MF Samsun staffs and harassment of passengers in the ship appeared in media. This is high time for the Directorate of Shipping Services to direct the officials of MF Samsun to provide proper services to Islanders.
Meanwhile, the Director of Shipping Services remained unavailable to comment on this issue, even after three attempts by Andaman Sheekha reporter to meet him.
