KARWAR: A Karwar youth, who is working as a steward on the cruise liner Diamond Princess, which has been quarantined off the coast of Japan, desperately wants to return home and has sought the help of the Indian government. The cruise was on its way to Singapore and was scheduled to return to China.
Abhishek of Padmanabhanagar in Karwar has been working on the cruise for the past six years. The vessel, with 3,700 passengers and crew members on board, was quarantined off a port near Yokohama, Tokyo, after over 50 of its passengers were found to have been affected with the Novel Coronavirus.
Although Abhishek is not infected, he and the other unaffected passengers have been restrained from disembarking. Feeling trapped and scared, he contacted his parents back home to seek their help.
Abhishek’s worried parents Balakrishna Moger and Roopali have sought the help of the district administration to ensure the safe return of their son and submitted a memorandum at the Deputy Commissioner’s office.
“Abhishek had contacted us over phone appealing to save him. He does not want to die there,” they said.
Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Japan issued a statement on Saturday saying, “Indians onboard the Dream Princess cruise are safe and are getting good treatment. Their health status is being monitored constantly”.
No info from officials: Father
“The Indian Government is doing its best to help them and is in constant touch with the Government of Japan. Adequate medical aid, food, refreshments and water have been ensured to those on the cruise,” the embassy statement added. Anil K Kaira, an officer at Indian embassy said, “As a few cases tested positive for Novel Coronavirus, the ship has been quarantined since February 5 and will continue to remain so till February 20. All the passengers and crew members on board have to follow the health and safety regulations put in place by the Japanese Ministry of Health”. However, there has been no response to the appeal by Abhishek’s parents. When contacted, Balakrishna said, “Barring the Uttara Kannada DC, who has told us not to panic, there has been no communication from any official or the Indian embassy in Japan”.