Ship agents associations have condemned the arrest of Captain Tariq Masood and Sajjad Ahmed of NYK Lines in Pakistan on a complaint by a textile exporter of Faisalabad, and have appealed to the Minister of Ports and Shipping to intervene and get release of the two senior seafarers. An emergency meeting of Shipping Lines Forum (SLF) in Lahore, which was attended by Pakistan Ships Agents Association (PSAA) and All Pakistan Shipping Association (APSA), discussed the unwarranted steps by MSC Textile of Faisalabad who booked cargo for Thailand but the same was refused at destination by the buyer.
The exporter could not find suitable disposal of the cargo to any other buyer and resultantly the Thai authorities, according to law of the land, auctioned the cargo.
The exporter filed a civil suit in Sindh High Court and obtained arrest of three NYK vessels at Karachi. The Line obtained release of the vessels against bank guarantees. The case is under hearing and final verdict is yet to be announced by the court.
The SLF in a statement said that while the action on the matter of civil and commercial nature is pending with the Sindh High Court, a criminal case was registered by the exporter in the jurisdiction of Khurrianwala police station, Faisalabad, on April 15 and consequently the NYK senior officers were arrested from their Lahore office. Since then both officers have been locked up in Khurrianwala police station.
The SLF, PSAA and APSA strongly disapproved the mala fide criminal action initiated by MSC Textile on the basis of their political connection and ownership by a federal minister. This has created a feeling of harassment and widespread concern in the shipping industry. They pointed out that the ship agents were obliged to report such incidents to their foreign principals. This may lead to a negative impact on the export trade of Pakistan in general and Faisalabad in particular.
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