Chinese ship captain, crew throw 2 Tanzanian men into shark-infested ocean fearing they’d ‘catch coronavirus from the Africans’

A Chinese captain of a cargo ship and his crew have pleaded guilty to attempted murder after throwing two Tanzanian stowaways into the shark-infested Indian Ocean in South Africa over fears of catching COVID-19 from them, says the New York Post.

The vessel had arrived in the Port of Durban, South Africa from Singapore early last month, when the ship crew comprising two to seven people realised that the two stowaways of African descent were aboard.

“The accused became wary of the men and asked them to wear face masks in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The men refused to wear the face masks. They gave them food and water, and put them into a separate room, as they did not know their COVID-19 status and feared for the rest of the crew. The two men demanded to know the vessel’s destination,” said South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Natasha Kara, as quoted by Dispatch Live.

The Daily Mail reports that the crew, thereafter, assembled a raft out of plywood, plastic drums and rope, and set the pair of stowaways overboard near South Africa, all with the skipper, Cui Rongli, watching.

The stowaways, 30-year-old Hassani Rajabu and 20-year-old Amiri Salamu, were only given two bottles of drinking water and a life jacket each to swim to the shores of the ocean.

Rajabu and Salamu were not given food on the flimsy raft, which was dumped near the mouth of the Tugela River where great whites, hammerheads, tiger and bull sharks are known to hunt, reports the New York Post.

Luckily, the Tanzanian nationals were washed up on the Zinkwazi Beach near Durban three days later.

Local residents, who found the pair on the shores of the ocean, took them to hospital, where it was established that the Tanzanians had suffered hypothermia, thirst and hunger.

The African Maritime Safety Agency impounded the MV Top Grace when it docked at Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and the captain was arrested.

Rongli, along with crewmembers Lin Xinyong, Zou Yongxian, Tan Yian, Xie Wenbin, Xu Kun and Mu Yong all pleaded guilty to attempted murder at Durban Magistrates Court on Friday, April 17.

Rongli was fined over $5,000 (Ksh537, 000) and crew members were fined $2,500 (Ksh268, 000) in a plea bargain.

“The accused … provided the men with life jackets and the crew acted in a threatening manner banging the vessel’s decks as they descended into the raft,” National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, Natasha Kara, told the Daily Mail.

“The ship pulled away leaving them (stowaways) once they were aboard the raft. The accused admitted that their actions could have resulted in serious injury and even the loss of life.”

“[On March 26], they (accused) were handed over to immigration officials after paying their fines,” said Kara.

Defense lawyer, Willie Lombard, countered: “There were many mitigating factors and if the crew had wanted to be cruel they could have dropped them in the high seas much further out without life jackets.”