The Indian captain of an alleged Russian shadow fleet oil vessel seized by British commandos has been made a “scapegoat”, his wife said, as her husband awaits trial.
Ajay Pant, 38, in custody in Britain, has been charged with sanctions offences carrying a maximum 10-year jail term.
“My husband just became the scapegoat,” Ritu Pant, 36, said in her first sit-down interview since her husband’s arrest in June.
British commandos fast-roped from a helicopter on June 14 in the English Channel to intercept the sanctioned oil tanker Smyrtos.
The tanker is allegedly part of Russia’s ghost fleet, a network of vessels with opaque ownership and insurance, used by Moscow to evade oil sanctions imposed after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The prosecution’s case is that Pant was the “master of the ship” and had “knowledge of the cargo”.
In a court hearing, Pant’s lawyer said he was “simply following orders” as an employee of the vessel’s owner.
Pant’s trial, scheduled to begin on Dec 15, is believed to be the first case of a European country bringing sanctions-violation charges against the captain.
India’s foreign ministry said consular officials had visited Pant “to enquire about his wellbeing”.
The case has made seafarers fearful of being “stuck in the middle” of a tug-of-war between rival powers, said Steve Yandell, coordinator of the seafarers’ section of the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
“Seafarers will often not know their ship might be carrying sanctioned oil, and that they’re potentially open to getting caught up in a geopolitical conflict.” — AFP
