Captain, crew spar over lube oil; foreign ship stranded off Kerala coast

When a foreign ship got moored off Ponnani coast in Kerala in the Arabian Sea nearly a month back, the local people assumed that it must have developed some technical glitch. But news from on board the vessel tells a different story.  

MT Enjas 1, a merchandise ship set sail from Busan Port in South Korea to Dubai, was forced to anchor off Ponnani coast after it ran out of lube oil. The problems could have been solved in a matter of two days. But the ship got held up for over three weeks after it's Korean captain Faris Salemi and engineer Karthikeyan Ravichander from Tamil Nadu entered into an argument over the brand of oil to be used in the engine. Apart from the captain and the engineer, there are six crew members in the stranded vessel. 

 When the spat reached new low, the police apprehended both and later released them after levying a fine of ₹ 21,000 for blocking the maritime path.

Finally, the issue was resolved when the Dubai-based owner of the ship took the final call on the lube oil. Having reached a forced consensus, the captain and the crew are all set to leave the coast. 

• Ship stranded
• Ponnani
• Ship caught up in midssea