MV Anastasia  |  Photo Credit: ANI
New Delhi: Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday announced that the stranded seafarers of MV Anastasia will be coming back to India on February 14. The crew will sign off from Japan today and will reach India on Sunday.
The latest development comes after, the Ministry of External Affairs on February 4 said that after continuous follow up by the Indian embassy in Beijing, China has conveyed their clearance on the transfer of the crew of cargo ship MV Anastasia.
The government said that the Chinese side has conveyed that the shipping company/agent can apply for crew rotation from a different port and that the local authorities would examine the feasibility of such request.
“After a sustained follow up by Indian embassy in Beijing, the Chinese central authorities have conveyed their clearance to the local foreign office in Tangshan and to the port authorities, for the transfer of the crew of MV Anastasia,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said while addresing the mediapersons.
“This information has also been shared with the shipping company, and we understand it has submitted the request to the concerned authorities. We hope that crew change is effected at the earliest,” he said.
MV Anastasia, which has 16 Indian nationals onboard was on anchorage near the Caofeidian port in China since September 20. MV Anastasia, operated by M/s MSC Crewing Services Private Ltd, Mumbai. The ship could not offload its cargo and carry out crew rotation due to the strict regulations introduced by China in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indian government raised the issue of early crew change with the Chinese authorities both at the provincial level and with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As per the Centre, Indian Ambassador in Beijing also personally took up the matter with the Vice Foreign Minister of China.
“As regards MV Anastasia, our Embassy continues to be in touch with the Chinese authorities as well as the shipping company to work out the modalities of crew change at port at the earliest,” the government had stated.
One more vessel, MV Jag Anand, owned by the Great Eastern Shipping Company Ltd, Mumbai was anchored near Jingtang port of China since June 13, 2020. The owners of MV Jag Anand decided to undertake crew change in Chiba, Japan. The ship carried out crew change in Chiba, Japan on January 18, 2021. All the 23 crew members who were on board MV Jag Anand have since arrived in India.
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