Seafarer groups on Saturday met Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to seek his assistance in ensuring the repatriation of thousands of Indian seamen stranded on ships across the world.
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The Goan Seamen Association of India (GSAI) President Frank Veigas said the government needed to come up with a contingency plan. “The plan’s execution lies with the State. They have to convince the Prime Minister. Just the way we are repatriating foreign nationals, getting our own countrymen employed on various ships is also important,” he added.
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Estimating that about 15,000 Indians work on cruise ships and other merchant vessels, the GSAI emphasised that at least 8,000 of these seamen were from Goa. “It is the crew on cruise liners, that have been hit the most,” said GSAI representative Dixon Vaz. “The crew have already been in quarantine for so many days. They can be flown back in batches of hundreds, which their companies will do. They could be easily accommodated in hotels in a green zone,” he added.
The GSAI said countries like the Philippines and Indonesia had evacuated hundreds of their crew from vessels off Portugal and Italy over the last few days.
“Indian seamen have been left in limbo by the country’s ban on incoming flights,” Mr. Vaz observed.
