New Delhi: After spending months stranded in Chinese waters, 46-year-old Anand Francis Fernandes, an Indian sailor who was aboard the Swiss-Italian cargo vessel MV Anastasia finally returned to India Monday.
However, the country he returned to is decidedly different from the one he had left a year earlier.
“I was at sea for so long, well before Covid-19. I only realised the full extent of the pandemic when I came home and saw everyone in masks,” Fernandes, a marine engineer, told ThePrint.
The MV Anastasia, along with 16 sailors, had been stuck in anchorage near Caofeidian port in China’s Hebei Province since 20 September 2020. The Chinese authorities didn’t allow the ship to dock or make a crew change due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Thirteen sailors returned to India Sunday while three came back Monday, according to the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI). They reached Iwakuni Port in Japan for a crew change Wednesday, as no crew changes were allowed at Chinese ports.
‘We were frustrated from uncertainty’
Recalling his time at sea, Fernandes said, “We thought it was an issue that would sort itself but it just went on day after day. We were also frustrated from the uncertainty.”
He noted that the MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company provided the crew members food, water and other supplies while they were stuck in Chinese waters, though some days there were delays in provisions.
“Initially, we were okay but then it became hard to keep morale up. But knowing that the embassies, shipping company and media were making efforts to get us out of the situation kept us going,” said Fernandes.
However, according to him, constant interaction with his family kept his spirits up.
“I was able to communicate with my wife and son as the company provided internet on the ship,” he said. “Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi was also WhatsApping us constantly and asking about our situation. It was helpful.”
Fernandes now awaits the end of the mandatory institutional quarantine in a Mumbai hotel so that he can reunite with his wife and 13-year-old son who live on Vasai Road, Mumbai.
Stuck at sea while contract expired
According to the marine engineer, his contract was meant to end around April 2020 but due to the Covid-19 pandemic was extended by five months.
According to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), ratified by India on 9 October 2015, the maximum continuous period that a seafarer should serve on board a vessel without leave is 11 months.
However, Fernandes’ vessel was stranded after MV Anastasia was refused permission by Chinese authorities to offload their cargo and leave on grounds of Covid-19-related restrictions.
Offloading cargo and leaving the port is a task that normally takes a ship two days or upto a week. MV Anastasia was stranded for over four months.
Last month, 23 seafarers aboard vessel Jag Anand, which was also stranded in Chinese waters for similar reasons, returned to India. The ship was stuck in anchorage near Jingtang port in Hebei province since 13 June 2020.
On 27 January, 327 shipping companies and organisations pledged their commitment to the Neptune Declaration of Crew Change and Seafarer Welfare.
The pledge is aimed at resolving the crisis that left hundreds of thousands of seafarers stranded on vessels when their contracts expired amid the pandemic. MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company is one of the signatories.
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