At least 39 Indian sailors who have been stranded for months at two Chinese ports are in “considerable amount of stress”, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the men have been stranded aboard MV Jag Anand at Jingtang port since June 13 and MV Anastasia since September 20 and called for an early solution to the issue.
“The Chinese authorities have conveyed that on account of various COVID-19 related restrictions imposed by the local authorities, crew change is not being permitted from these ports. We also understand, however, that some other ships, which arrived after Indian ship had arrived, have actually managed to discharge cargo and leave,” said Mr. Srivastava.
The official described the situation as “unprecedented” and said this has caused “considerable amount of stress on the crew members”.
“Our Embassy in Beijing has been in constant touch with provincial and central government authorities in China, requesting that the ships be allowed to dock and/or the crew be allowed to be changed, he said.
