COVID-19 lockdown: 93 Goan seafarers onboard ship seek Sawant's help

In a letter addressed to Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday, around 93 Goan seafarers out of the total 450 onboard cruise ship 'Karnika' sought his intervention in assisting their repatriation.

Panaji: Over 90 Goan seafarers onboard a cruise ship currently docked at Mumbai have sought help from Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for their repatriation.

The Goa government last week decided not to allow the seafarers to enter the state in view of the coronavirus threat after they requested for disembarkment from the ship.

It said the seafarers from Goa will have to follow coronavirus-related quarantine protocol before they are allowed entry into the state.

In a letter written to Sawant on Monday, 93 Goan seafarers out of the total 450 onboard cruise ship 'Karnika' sought his intervention in assisting their repatriation.

"Our ship has not had a single case of coronavirus or a suspect till date since the disease outbreak last year. Moreover, no crew member on board Karnika has shown any symptoms of coronavirus, they said in the letter.

Along with the letter, the crew members attached a certificate of an on-board doctor, to assert their claim of not suffering from any suspected symptoms.

They mentioned that the cruise ship had its last operation on March 1, when it sailed from Mumbai to Dubai with 124 passengers on board.

"The ship reached Dubai on March 5 and all passengers disembarked at Dubai. In view of the COVID-19 situation, the ship owner/operator decided to bring the ship back to Mumbai without any guest", said the letter.

The ship reached Mumbai on March 12, after which all the crew members were medically cleared by the seaport public health office, it said.

However, in the wake of various restrictive travel advisories and in order to support the government's impetus to curtail the spread of COVID-19, as a precautionary measure, the owner/operator of the ship decided to take it to an outer anchorage of Mumbai as a self-imposed quarantine, the letter added.

PTI Report