259 Indians stranded in UK to return to Mumbai today

Over 650 crew members from India, stranded on board a ship in the United Kingdom (UK) since the lockdown began in March, are set to return home. Of these stranded

Over 650 crew members from India, stranded on board a ship in the United Kingdom (UK) since the lockdown began in March, are set to return home. Of these stranded passengers, 259 crew members will be brought to Mumbai and 280 Indians to Panaji on Monday morning in two charter flights from Gatwick airport. The remaining crew members on Marella Explorer cruise liner will return in the coming days.

HT Image

On June 12, Nallasopara legislator Kshitij Thakur, wrote to Union external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, requesting him to make arrangements to fly the crew members back to the country.

“Some of those stranded on the ship, now anchored at Southampton, are from my constituency and sought my help. Most of the crew members are depressed from the past few weeks,” Thakur said.

In his letter to the minister (a copy of which is with HT), Thakur wrote, “Earlier, there was some efforts made to fly the crew back home, but due to some document requirements, the flights were cancelled.”

Taking cognisance of the matter, the external affairs ministry directed the Indian High Commission in London to intervene, after which two charter flights were arranged for 259 stranded Indians to Mumbai and 280 Indians to Panaji, which will leave from the UK on Sunday night.

One of the stranded crew members on the ship Rajesh Gawde thanked Jaishankar, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Thakur for taking efforts to bring the crew back home.