Seafarers including one Pakistani stranded at the port of Ummul Quwein, UAE, will be repatriated back to their homes after four years.
The seafarers were abridged of their wages that amounted to $300,000 for last four years which have now been paid after the relevant authorities took notice. The incident of this lost voyage was covered by BBC Urdu and the Guardian, reporting worst of kind of humanitarian crisis including a Pakistani marine engineer namely Riasat Ali stranded on-board for last four years.
The matter was initiated by Admiralty & Maritime Lawyer Muslim Bin Aqeel from Pakistan. In his letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan, he described the principles of general average to award the wages held in abeyance illegitimately by the shipping company namely Alco Shipping LLC.
Aqeel is a research associate at Maritime Study Forum Pakistan.
The matter was also highlighted at the Pakistan Citizen Portal. The stranded seafarer is likely to return by repatriation within a month as per DG Ports and Shipping Karachi. The authorities are in liaison with Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Office Pakistan, Consul General UAE and Government of UAE.
