y0n3, definitely agree with you here shipmate.
From Maasmond News clippings earlier this year:
"In the Wrong place, at the wrong time - just doing your job. Any one of us could be in his place."
By : Captain Alexandros Lignos Master Mariner - Marine Superintendent / Port Captain
Ali Albokhari wasn’t a criminal.
He was a Chief Officer.
But when drugs were found onboard,
he was the easiest one to blame.
Wrong uniform. Wrong passport.
Now he’s serving 30 years in a foreign prison.
No evidence. No trial. No truth.
He became the face of the crime simply because he was there.
This may seem distant to those ashore.
Easy to say, “He must have done something.”
But for us - for seafarers this is terrifyingly real.
We’ve seen drugs hidden under the hull,
stuck with magnets by divers in the dark.
We’ve seen containers sealed at origin,
packed with things the crew will never know about.
You think we’re in control?
Sometimes we’re the last to know what we’re carrying,
and the first to blame.
Let me tell you what I saw.
I was a Superintendent onboard a 8,400-TEU container vessel in the U.S.
Customs came onboard. With dogs.
They said nothing.
They went straight to one container.
They had intel - they knew.
They opened it, seized the narcotics,
thanked us for our cooperation, and left.
No drama. No blame. No injustice.
That’s how it should be.
Because the real traffickers?
They don’t wear coveralls.
They don’t stand watch at 4 a.m.
They don’t sign ballast logs.
They operate from the shadows,
and let seafarers take the fall.
** Ali didn’t smuggle anything.**
He smuggled courage.
He sailed into a system that never had his back.
Now he’s paying the price,
for someone else’s crime,
and for everyone else’s silence.
But silence is no longer an option.
Because if we allow this to continue,
you could be next.
Your brother. Your Captain. Your son.
This industry cannot survive on the backs of men it throws away.
There are no borders when the world needs cargo.
So don’t draw borders when a seafarer needs justice.