Two officers, both Indian nationals, from a Hong Kong supertanker have been banned from leaving South Korea despite being cleared of blame for the country's worst oil spill, world shipping organisations complained in Seoul.The eight groups in a statement jointly protested against "the continuing unjust and unreasonable detention" of the captain and chief officer of the Hebei Spirit, and appealed to the government to let them leave immediately.A court on June 23 jailed two South Korean tugboat captains for causing the spill last December but acquitted the tanker officers and the ship's owner, Hong Kong-registered Hebei Ocean Shipping.But because prosecutors plan to appeal that ruling, a court has banned captain Jasprit Chawla and chief officer Shyam Chetan from leaving the country. The shipping groups in a statement expressed "surprise, disappointment and great concern" that the officers may be refused permission to leave the country for possibly as long a year pending further hearings."Such measures appear to be unjustified, unreasonable and in contravention of the men's rights." The accident happened when a barge carrying a crane snapped its cables to two tugs in rough seas and rammed the anchored 147,000-ton Hebei Spirit, holing it in three places and spilling 10,900 tons of crude.Scores of marine farms and miles of beaches, notably in Taean county about 110 kilometres southwest of Seoul, were smothered in oil.The groups include BIMCO, the world's biggest private shipping organisation. They said the officers, who are staying in a Seoul apartment, have been refused permission to leave the country since the accident occurred.
