Friday, Aug 10, 2007
Dubai: The Zanzibar minister of transport has called on shipping casualty surveyors to conclude their findings to allow the owner of the missing freighter Reef Azania to start compensation procedures.
Brigadier General Adam Mwakanjuki, Minister of Communication and Transport in the semi-autonomous Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, told Gulf News there was "no need" for the ship owners to delay compensation procedures for the families of the lost crewmembers on Reef Azania, which went missing on June 24 on its way to the Comoros Islands via the Seychelles.
Final statement
The ship was carrying fourteen crew members, including eight Tanzanians, of which seven are from Zanzibar. "We are just waiting for a final statement from the Salvage Association to declare the ship lost," he said. "They usually take four months to conclude the search, and we feel that that's a very long time," he told Gulf News, adding that relatives in Zanzibar were getting impatient.
The Salvage Association is a London-based marine casualty surveying organisation, who is reportedly investigating the loss of the vessel. The Association's office in Dubai did not respond to Gulf News' request for a comment, citing instructions from insurers forbidding them from speaking to the press.
"I don't know if there is any hope in finding the ship and its crew members alive," said Brigadier General Mwakanjuki. The minister called a press conference in Zanzibar on Wednesday to assure relatives that the government was closely following up with the search, and pushing for compensation for families.
He said that the ship's operators, Zambezi Shipping, and owners, Reef Line, were cooperating with the government and relatives of the crew in Zanzibar, but said there was "no need to wait till the last minute" to discuss compensation.
Zambezi issued a statement last week saying that compensation would be discussed once it is confirmed that the ship has been lost.
Brigadier General Mwakanjuki denied reports that the ship had gone missing close to Somali waters, saying contact with it was lost closer to Omani waters. "There is no way to confirm that it was a case of piracy. Similarly, we can't say that it sunk either, since no one has found debris or floating fuel."
An official at the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre told Gulf News earlier that contact with Reef Azania was lost 500 nautical miles from the Somali coast, but dismissed suggestions of a hijacking saying ransom calls were usually made within three days of a hijacking.
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
