Ukraine: 21 Indian sailors stuck on ship in port, maritime company says there are other vessels too
The chief executive officer of the shipping company has asked the government to draw up a rescue plan.
Twenty-one Indian sailors have been stuck on board a merchant ship in the Port of Mykolaiv in Ukraine, reported PTI.
Ukrainian officials said they repelled a Russian attack on Mykolaiv, The Guardian reported on Friday.
Sanjay Prashar, founder and chief executive officer of VR Maritime Services said the Indian sailors are safe and in contact with their families, said the report. According to Prashar, there are 24 other ships at the port with Indian sailors onboard.
Prashar, in a tweet on Friday, called for the assistance of the Ministry of External Affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Indian Embassy in Ukraine to draw up a “definite rescue plan”.
Life is really tough for all Seafarers and families whose Merchant Ships are stuck in Ukranian Ports. War Zone there means Ships need @MOS_MEA attention too.
— Capt Sanjay Prashar (@PrasharSdp) March 4, 2022
Help call to @PMOIndia is made and definite rescue plan awaited.@IndiainUkraine
According to the senior company executive, the crew has not stepped off the vessel since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Prashar said that the port is not functioning and that Russian forces are “probably close to it”.
“If the Russian forces come into the Port and they allow couple of ships to leave then it is fine,” said Prashar, according to the report. Prashar said if that was not possible, the vessel would require help from the port authorities to depart.
Several Indian nationals, most of them students studying medicine, were left stranded in Ukraine after the Russian invasion. On March 1, an Indian student from Karnataka was killed in shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
