THE SEAMEN'S CHURCH INSTITUTE
OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

241 WATER STREET
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10038
(212) 349-9O9O FAX:(212)349-8342

New York, NY - May 20, 1999 - The Seamen's Church Institute (SCI) of New York & New Jersey today announced that the four remaining Ukrainian crewmen of the M/V Dubai Valour, held hostage in Nigeria for two years, were freed on May 11, 1999. The Nigerian who had imprisoned them on the vessel since August, 1997, Chief Humphrey Idisi of Sapele, Nigeria, released the crew and the ship after reaching an agreement with the ship's owners and insurers. Idisi as owner of the cargo (second-hand oil drilling parts) had been keeping the crew imprisoned aboard their ship without visitors in an effort to compel greater compensation from the ship's owners and insurers even though the cargo loss was very small.

"The crew sent us a message from the Dubai Valour after leaving Nigerian waters which said they were free and safe," said Doug Stevenson, Director of the Center for Seafarer's Rights(CSR) at SCI. "Chief Idisi took almost two years of their lives, years in which they were constantly imprisoned without visitors, malnourished and gravely ill."

The crew's ordeal began in August of 1997 when the ship arrived in Sapele, Nigeria with damaged cargo. Chief Idisi asked for compensation somewhere between $5 million and $17 million for loss estimated by the insurance company to be worth about $170,000. He then held the entire 27 member crew hostage to force his demands.

Although acceptable security was provided to the Nigerian court that would allow the ship to leave Nigeria pending adjudication of the claim, Chief Idisi used force to hold the ship and crew hostage. Twenty-three of the crew members were released in September of 1998. The Nigerian courts issued several orders to release the remaining four crew members, but Chief Idisi refused to comply with these orders. The Nigerian government stood by, passive, while the chief defied its legal authority.

The United Nations requested the Center for Seafarer's Rights' assistance after an appeal by the crew members' wives. CSR appealed to Nigerian, Ukrainian, and Maltese authorities to help free the crew. It sought the assistance of the Ukrainian community and various human rights organizations, filed a petition with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and appealed to the Commonwealth foreign ministers, who were considering Nigeria's readmission to the Commonwealth. "We wanted to bring this case to the attention of the highest political levels as well as persons on the street to demonstrate that the international community will not tolerate such callous disregard for basic humanity," said Stevenson. "I am convinced that international pressure from many people and institutions helped convince Chief Idisi and Nigeria to release the men."

The Center for Seafarers Rights is part of the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey. Since its inception in 1834, the Seamen's Church Institute has had as its mission the advancement of the professionalism, the dignity, and the emotional and spiritual well-being of mariners worldwide. This mission is fulfilled through three separate SCI divisions the Center for Seafarers' Services, offering recreational facilities as well as ministry and counseling; the Center for Seafarers' Rights, the SCI legal advocacy arm; and the Center for Maritime Education, the nation's leading independent maritime education center.

Courtesy of A. Lastowecky, UkRada