This is the story of every seafarer and against that backdrop, it is certainly cause for utmost excitement for the family members back here in Goa to hear that their husbands, fathers, uncles, relatives or friends’ international cruise ship will berth at Vasco and all it takes is an hour drive at the most to see them. However, therein lies the problem. It may take them less than 2 hours from their homes to reach Mormugao Port Trust but it may take more time once they reach the site to finally get to meet the seafarer on board the ship.
One of the major complaints from seafarers and family members is the lengthy process involved in taking permissions and completing formalities before the meeting can take place. They have urged authorities to sort the problems so that they can board the cruise liners and meet their family when the cruise ships visit the port.
Seafarers in Goa have reiterated that authorities should take a leaf from how other countries manage these issues as family members can meet the crew and board the ship with just a few formalities that don’t take much time and give them an early chance at to meet their families given that it usually takes almost a year for the same to happen. Raymond Santos from Chinchinim was of the opinion that the authorities need to streamline the entire process which requires better coordination between the port agents and the ship handling agents. Others concurred with Savio and Ivan Abranches from Raia who felt that the MPT should think about creating a single widow system wherein the necessary entry passes to the family members of the crew can be given and that too near the international cruise berth terminal itself of MPT and not some other place that is located at a considerable distance.
A very large section of Goa’s population are seafarers and this is a problem faced by many families. For instance, last year in November, in a typical Sunday picnic style, families woke up early, even making the Saturday evening mass to be ready for the Sunday morning visit and families from even remote parts of Goa were present at Vasco at 7 am. However, to their utter dismay, not only did they have to wait till late afternoon but had to spend the greater half of the morning running around to get the entry pass. This also cut down the time they got to spend with their family and the children were tired.
Francis Coutinho from Navelim pointed out that the number of crew members working on these cruise ships can even cross triple figures and not just a measly sum of 20 people but as many as 200. He added that in many of these families, the husbands are the sole bread winners and their wives at home are managing the house, the children and the elderly and it is not easy for them to coordinate with the ships and the port as these are tasks usually done by the seafarers themselves.
Ryan Martins from Nagoa said that the process should begin a fortnight before the cruise ship arrives to make sure that the entry pass is available as soon as the families reach Vasco. “There is definitely a need for a single window system. We are happy with the MPT responding to our representations to the NRI Affairs and we call upon the government to look at this issue from a larger point of view to help the families with the process,” said Dixon Vaz, president of Goa Seamen Association of India.
Based on GSAI representations, the NRI Affairs Director U D Kamat had written to the MPT on October 9. “If you compare the process in other countries, it is relatively simple but only in India it is cumbersome,” added Vaz calling for simpler formalities.
Based on the MPT instructions, Vaz said that it was also important for the seafarers to write to the masters of their shipping vessels at least 2 weeks in advance as the port authorities need to coordinate with the shipping vessels so that they can approve the clearances to allow the families to meet the crew.
“It all depends then on how quickly the cruise ships send over the necessary details to the port authorities agents concerned and this can help the families get their entry pass” said Vaz.
“The new tourism season has already started and many cruise ships have already started to visit the port in Vasco. Many Goans are working on these ships and would like to bring their families on board for a short visit since there in not enough time to visit home and be back on the ship on time,” read the GSAI letter to the NRI affairs office that was forwarded to MPT.
GSAI had further pointed out that last year they faced problems to get the permissions from port authorities and cruise liners which were eventually resolved after a meeting with MPT and GSAI. They, however, pointed that they had received a lot of requests from the crew on board the ships that are about to visit that they will not be able to get their families on board and requested the authorities to kindly assist in this matter before the next ship arrives.
