“My husband just became the scapegoat,” Ritu Pant said, defending her husband, Ajay Pant, the Indian captain of an oil tanker seized by British commandos in the English Channel.
Because it is believed to be the first instance in Europe of sanctions-related criminal charges being brought against a tanker captain rather than focusing only on the vessel or its owners, the prosecution is also being closely watched. MV Smyrtos, the oil tanker that was captained by Pant, was stopped on June 14 in an operation involving British commandos who descended from a helicopter onto the vessel. The vessel had left Russia’s Ust-Luga port on June 5 and was sailing towards Egypt’s Port Said, according to MarineTraffic. It was carrying roughly 98,000 tonnes of oil when British forces intercepted it.
The mission was the first of its kind led by Britain and was described by then-prime minister Keir Starmer as a “blow to Russia”. His wife, however, said a captain’s job is primarily to ensure that the cargo reaches its destination safely. “The master’s responsibility in any vessel is to just get the cargo safely to its destination,” she said, AFP reported. Anwar Sadat of the Indian Society of International Law said the case presented “complex” legal issues. David Hammond of Human Rights at Sea International said the outcome could have consequences beyond Pant himself.
The Indian government has been keeping a close watch on the case through the Indian High Commission in London, according to a statement released in June. In a letter to Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the High Commission shared an update on Pant’s case, according to an official release reported by news agency PTI.
