KOCHI: A Group of 10 India seafarers, who were stranded in a merchant vessel due to the restrictions imposed in view of Covid- 19 outbreak, disembarked at Kochi port on Wednesday. The ship, M V Tomini Destiny, set off for South Africa after the seafarers, who joined duty nine months ago, signed out on Wednesday morning. Sources said the seafarers included nine North Indian officers and a Kasaragod native.
The Marshall Island flagged vessel, owned by Tomini Shipping, Dubai, was the first vessel to call at Kochi port to disembark Indian seafarers after the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24. Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Director General (DG) of Shipping had issued circulars and provided standard operating procedure (SOP) for crew change to be conducted at Indian ports to bring back Indian seafarers stranded on board various Indian and foreign ships.
The vessel operators diverted the vessel from her planned route from Chittagong in Bangladesh to Port Elizabeth in South Africa to facilitate the crew repatriation. Though final SOP was not released, the operators decided to divert the vessel after contacting Indian authorities.
The Kochi authorities had made all arrangements complying with the directives issued by the MHA and DG Shipping. The crew members underwent medical tests and were shifted to a hotel where they will be quarantined for 14 days. After completing the quarantine, they will be permitted to go to their native places by road for which the DG Shipping has provided epasses. The shipping firm has made arrangements for transportation of the seafarers to their native places.