Amid COVID-19 pandemic and the crew change issue that has arise, shipping companies set seven chartered flights in order to bring 2.000 seafarers from Sri Lanka, Brazil, UK back to their homes.
According to Times of India, the crewmembers are expected to land in Goa during the following week.
For the records, the flights have been chartered by Princess Cruises Company, MSC Cruises, Costa Cruises, and P&O Co.
The above action will help the stranded seafarers who working on extended contracts ,suffering from anxiety and depression to return to their families.
May shipping companies have lost business for the last 2 months due to the outbreak, are willingly bearing the cost of travel for seafarers.
In light of the crew change situation, eight ship managers recently joined forces with crewing firms to run a charterflight from Mumbai to Doha and back, as well as Delhi to Doha and back, to fly Indian crew looking to join ships abroad and to bring back those who had signed off after spending extended contract tenures at sea.
However, although the directorate general of shipping (DGS) granted permission for charter flights, the Ministry of External Affairs did not accept that.