“Life Only Comes Once”: Bombay High Court Frees 50 Seafarers Stranded On Arrested Vessels With Minimal Food, Water

Observing that 'life comes once' and 'money will come and go', the Bombay High Court on Tuesday ordered immediate release of 50 seafarers - all Indian nationals, who were stranded on three vessels near the Mumbai Coast since February 9, surviving on limited food stocks and 300 ml water per day. 

A division bench of Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Hiten Venegavkar ordered immediate release of the 50 seafarers who were stranded on MT Asphalt Star, MT Stellar Ruby and MT Al Jafzia, which were arrested by the Yellow Gate Police Station in Mumbai, for alleged illegal fuel oil and bitumen transfers.

The seafarers through the Maharashtra Navnirman Navin Sena Union (MNNSU) filed habeas corpus petitions highlighting that the owners of these vessels 'practically abandoned' them and they were kept by the Yellow Gate Police Station in the Arabian Sea at a distance of 11 nautical miles from Mumbai Coast, under arrest. 

Pursuant to the order passed on Monday (May 4), the 50 men - none of whom are named in the FIR - were produced before the bench, where they in unison, refused to go back to the vessel, as suggested by the counsel for the owners of the vessel.

The bench noted that the seafarers were given only limited food and 300 ml of water. 

Irked over this, Justice Ghuge, orally told the vessel owners, "Your conduct doesn't value human life but only money... If you don't give them proper quantity of water, their kidneys will fail... Your money will come and go, you are a rich man... For them their lives will come only once... They might have dependents on them. They might have their own families waiting for them... You are ignoring all this... But we as Constitutional courts cannot ignore this... We will release them, you take your own recourse..."

The judges further noted that all of these seafarers were deprived of their salaries since December 2025 and therefore, ordered the owners of the vessel to make a statement by Wednesday (May 6) as to when it proposes to clear the dues. 

During the hearing, the owner of the vessel opposed releasing these 50 men and suggested that they work at least till a new crew comes in to replace them, which would obviously need some time. 

However, the bench noted that all of the 50 men have categorically refused to return to the ships, not only before the Yellow Gate Police Station but also in the court before the judges. 

"These people have approached us because of the natural instinct to survive... Life comes once, we don't believe in rebirth... Replacement crew will take a few days. A man cannot be left without food and water... All the crew members have signed that they don't want to go back to the ship... Thus, we cannot force them to go back at least till they are replaced," Justice Ghuge remarked. 

The bench therefore, ordered the Yellow Gate Police Station through additional public prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh, to immediately take all the 50 men to their station house, record their statements, take a copy of their identity cards and without making them wait unnecessarily.

"Since all of these 50 persons are adults, we have no reason to detain them or make them go back to the vessel... They have suffered from starvation while on the vessel... We can't compel them to go back to the ship... They were being given 300 ml drinking water a day and as there was no means for cooking food, they had to make their chapatis by burning wood. They claim to have suffered tremendously and do not desire to go back to the vessels..." the judges said. 

Case Title: Gopal Dass vs State of Maharashtra (Criminal Writ Petition 2280 of 2026)