UAE bans Indian sailors with old travel documents

UAE bans Indian sailors with old travel documents
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, JAN 3: Jobs of a few thousand seafarers are likely to be affected after the Central Immigration Department in Dubai decided to ban Indian crew members from travelling on old seaman book from this year.

The matter came to the fore after several shipping agents in Dubai informed the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) in Mumbai when immigration clearance was being refused to some vessels in the past two days.

According to NUSI activist Abdul Gani Serang, the Central Immigration Department at United Arab Emirates (UAE) had sent out a warning about five months ago to Indian seamen whose Continuous Discharge Certificate (CDC is equivalent to a passport for seamen) do not show any validity or a recent photograph would not be able to join or be repatriated from any of UAE ports. Clearance would even be refused to vessels not complying with the regulation, Serang pointed out.

``However, the warning was not taken very seriously, resulting in putting thousands of jobs in foreign and Indian shipping held by Indian seafarers at stake,'' said Serang.

What adds up to the shipping agents' woes is that besides not being allowed to enter UAE, seamen with old CDCs will also not be issued shore passes. They may have to travell on passports and visas.

Clamping of the new regulation assumes significance in light of the fact that ports in the Persian Gulf have been regularly used for signing on or repariation of Indian seamen over the years. This due to their proximity to Mumbai and cheap air fares, a shipping agent pointed out.

One of the largest shipping agents in Dubai disclosed that at the moment, there are 541 Indian seafarers on board different vessels of the company which could be affected by the policy.

The UAE, on the other hand, has been forced to enforce the regulation as some of the CDCs were almost 40-years-old. In most cases, photographs of aging seamen had made it difficult for immigration authorities to clear their travel documents.

The new regulation, however, will not affect persons holding new seamen book, which is valid for only five years.

By conservative estimates, more than 40,000 Indian seamen are registered with NUSI, of which at least 50 per cent are with old CDCs. The remaining seamen may have obtained their travel documents from other ports in the country.