Indian businessman in UAE helps rescue 20 sailors confined in Yemen for 10 months

Dubai - Dr Dhananjay Datar also donated a sum of Rs20,000 to each worker as an emergency help

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Dr Dhananjay Datar.

Published: Mon 7 Dec 2020, 1:17 PM

Last updated: Mon 7 Dec 2020, 1:23 PM

A UAE-based Indian businessman helped facilitate the rescue of 20 sailors who were under confinement in Yemen for the last 10 months.

The shipping crew included 14 Indians, five Bangladeshis and one Egyptian.

Dr Dhananjay Datar, CMD, Al Adil Trading LLC, maintained contact with the Indian Embassy in Djibouti to facilitate the rescue. The businessman, who is popularly known as the ‘Masala King’, has also donated a sum of Rs20,000 each as an emergency help to the rescued workers.

The 14 Indian sailors had travelled from Mumbai, India, to Muscat last January to work for an Oman-based shipping company. There, they were accompanied by six other sailors.

ALSO READ: 14 Indians kidnapped in Yemen fly to Mumbai via Dubai

“The crew started their first voyage on two ships on February 3 to the Yanbu port. On February 12, the sea turned turbulent and one ship sank,” Al Adil Trading said in a statement. “Fortunately, the crew members of the sunken ship were rescued in time and their journey continued via another ship. Soon after, the weather turned rough and cyclonic, which forced the ship to anchor on the spot.”

Stuck in a war zone

The sailors didn’t know that the point at which they anchored was a war zone. “As a result, the Yemeni Coast Guards arrested the entire crew and confined them to a hotel in Sana city for further enquiry. Their passports, documents, cell phones and cash were seized.”

The group spent six months in the hotel. They couldn’t contact anyone as their cell phones were confiscated.

“A couple of months ago, they were allowed to communicate with their families. Their deplorable plight then came to light through media.”

Some friends of the confined Indian sailors called Dr Datar and requested him for help. The businessman then called Vipul, former Consul-General of India to Dubai.

“Since India doesn’t have an embassy in Yemen, he communicated with Ashok Kumar, the Indian Ambassador to Djibouti. Dr Datar got help from Ashok Kumar along with former senior ambassador Dyaneshwar Mulay, Dhanashree Patil (Pune) and Dr Sunil Manjarekar (Dubai) in his mission.”

The Indian workers include six Maharashtrians: Sandeep Lohar and Nilesh Lohar (Kolhapur); Fairoz Zari (Ratnagiri); Ahmed Wakankar (Dapoli); Tanmay Mane (Alibaug) and Dawood Jivarak (Dapoli).

The other workers were Chetan Gawas (Goa); Maniraj Marippan, Mohanraj Thanigchalam and William Nicamden (Tamil Nadu); Pravin T. (Puducherry); Abdul Mustaba (Kerala); Hiron Seikh Siddiki (West Bengal); and Sanjeev Kumar (Uttar Pradesh).

Workers’ plight

One of the rescued workers recalled their ordeal.

He said: “It was a nightmare to spend 10 months in confinement on a foreign soil. We were starving as the daily meal contained only dal-rice and a cup of tea.

“Each of us had paid a sum of Rs100,000 to Rs300,000 to an agent for this job. Our company has not paid our wages yet and we are penniless now.

“We owe gratitude to Dr Datar, who provided us some financial relief as an emergency help. We will never forget his charity and humanity. We are all eagerly waiting to meet our families.”

Dr Datar said Al Adil Group has helped evacuate more than 5,000 “jobless and penniless” Indian workers stranded in the GCC.

“I have done nothing great. I am determined to help my countrymen who are stranded in a foreign land under challenging circumstances. I wish them to reach home safely and unite with their families,” he said.