KARACHI: Nine Pakistani sailors stranded onboard the Kuwaiti cargo ship near the port of Suez returned home on early Friday morning.
The sailors after arriving at Jinnah International airport expressed their gratitude to the Pakistani Embassy for executing preparations for their repatriation.
The captain of the ship was not able to return with the crew as he was in the hospital due to ill health, however, he is expected to reach Pakistan in four to five days, confirmed Chief engineer Muhammad Khaliq.
The sailors said that the Sindh government did not extend any cooperation for them and they have reached home after a long struggle.
A total of 17 Pakistani sailors were stranded onboard the MV AKKAZ which is anchored in the Suez Canal after the Egyptian government confiscated the vessel for non-payment of dues.
The MV AKKAZ owned by a Kuwaiti company and chartered by a Dutch firm had set sail from Abu Dhabi on August 11, 2016, bound for Port Said and Alexandria in Egypt and then onwards to the Netherlands.
However, upon reaching the Suez waters in October the vessel was not allowed to enter due to mechanical failure and expiry of its technical license. The stranded sailors according to the vessel’s Chief Officer Jameel Jangian are owed approximately Rs. 20 million by the shipping corporation in dues.
