PONDA : A 22-year-old Goan youth, who was stranded on a ship at Djibouti, has returned home safely alongwith the crew from Mumbai with the help of Indian Embassy at Djibouti.
Of the 14 Indians, stranded on the ship, only two have managed to leave from there, while the remaining 12 are still stuck on the ship, informed Nikon Dias, who has returned home after almost six months of sailing.
While speaking to this daily, Dais said that with a news report published on this daily and the initiative taken by MP Narendra Sawaikar he was able to return home safely.
The Indian ministry contacted Indian embassy in Djibouti and soon the embassy contacted the harbor master there and with their intervention, the ship authorities, who never replied to our mail, started replying and showed concern to settle our issues, stated Dias.
He said that the major issue with the merchant ship is the large amount of debt on the ship owner’s head which is to be paid to one of the dealers in Djibouti.
Due to the debt, the dealer has a filed case against the owner of the ship and the ship has been detained at Djibouti port, informed Dias.
He said that “the port master in Djibouti has restrained the ship from sailing and the crew from the ship is not allowed to come out of the ship too. Food and other requirements are provided by the port authorities but it is of bad quality. The crew has not been paid their salaries for last six months.”
After the pressure from Indian embassy and port authority, the owner of the ship started clearing the debt and assured the crew to pay their salaries, he said.
“The crew on the ship is waiting for the permit from the port master to deboard the ship, but they haven’t got it. We are the lucky ones who got it first,” stated Dias.
He said that “as soon as we got the salary of the last few months (while one month’s salary is still pending) we complained of not feeling well and contacted the embassy. Soon they pressured the port authority to give sign-off permission for us. After getting the permission, we deboarded the ship at Djibouti and rushed to India.”
The other crew member, who has come back to India alongwith Dias, is Pratish Pandey from Mumbai.
It may be recalled that this daily had published a report informing about the Goan youth being stranded on a merchant ship alongwith 13 other Indians at Djibouti for last two months and needed immediate help. NT
Taking note of the report, South Goa MP Sawaikar wrote to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj requesting help in the matter.
