The shipping fraternity in India condemns the sentence and fine imposed on two Indian seamen in South Korea and threatened to start agitation. Two offices, Captain Jasprit Chawla and Chief Officer Syam Chetan of Hebei Spirit are accused of oil spill in the Korean waters.

The accident took place near the Port of Daesan on the Yellow Sea coast off Taean County on December 7, 2007. Hebei Spirit was carrying 2,60,000 tonnes of crude oil, when it collided with a barge owned by Samsung, leading to the leakage of 10,800 tonnes of oil. The incident caused large scale pollution which impacted the livelihood of the fishing communities in the region.

Shaym and Chawla were awarded jail terms for 18 months and eight months respectively by the Daejeon district court in South Korea, besides fine of thousands of U. S. dollars to Mr. Chawla. Shipping and maritime organizations across the board said that the two officers should rather be rewarded, for saving lives as they prevented the explosion in the tanker. Criticizing the judgment, ISF termed it as "example of criminalization of seafarers for discharging their duties."

The families of Mr. Chawla and Mr. Chetan also criticized the judgment and demanded diplomatic pressure for their acquittal. Mr. Chawla's wife, Gurpreet said, "Shipping experts all over the world have condemned this decision. My husband cannot even get bail. The court was biased against us. The witnesses were only from the Korean side. One Korean witness told us that he would speak in our favor. The next we heard was he had lost his job. We ignored all these limitations as we were sure of our innocence."

The Managing director of V Ships India Private Limited, Captain Rajesh Tandon said they would soon file appeal against the verdict.