Two Srikakulam youths among eight Indian crew stuck at Port of Mykolaiv, seek evacuation

Twelve of the 20 crew members of the ship, including the captain, returned to Turkey with the help of the Turkish embassy remaining eight Indian crew members have been waiting for their evacuation.
The eight Indian crew members of a merchant navy ship, who were stranded at the Port of Mykolaiv in the war-hit Ukraine.
The eight Indian crew members of a merchant navy ship, who were stranded at the Port of Mykolaiv in the war-hit Ukraine.

SRIKAKULAM: Two merchant navy deck cadets of Srikakulam, who were stuck at the Port of Mykolaiv in Ukraine, have appealed to the Indian government to evacuate them from the war-hit east European country.

Veeramsetti Ramanamurthy of Teemara village in Pathapatnam mandal and Uppada Yesu of Kalingapatnam in Gara mandal of the district joined a Turkey-based merchant navy ship seven months ago as deck cadets. The ship visited the Port of Mykolaiv on February 23. It was stuck in Mykolaiv as Ukraine closed the Black Sea waterways.

Twelve of the 20 crew members of the ship, including the captain, returned to Turkey with the help of its embassy. The remaining eight Indian crew members have been waiting for their evacuation by the government. The duo approached the Indian embassy through Srikakulam MP Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu five days ago seeking help. Assuring help to the stranded crew members, the embassy officials asked them to reach the border of Romania or Poland on their own for evacuation.

“We are afraid of going to the nearest border in a cab in view of the tense situation. One of the ship generators has come to a grinding halt due to some technical snag. We are finding it difficult to get food,” Ramanamurthy told TNIE.

He said bombs have been exploding very close to the Port of Mykolaiv. “It is very risky to go to the border of Romania or Poland as suggested by the Indian embassy. I have only $100, which is not sufficient to go to the border of Romania or Poland in a cab,” he rued.

Yesu said, “Our ship captain and other crew members hailing from Turkey, returned to their country as its embassy arranged a special bus for them from Mykolaiv to Romania. We have groceries for another three to four days. We are facing difficulty to cook food as the generator has stopped running.” The stranded Indian crew members include deck cadets, oilers and seafarers.

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The New Indian Express
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