The sailors had been stuck outside the Chinese port of Jingtang since mid-June due to a Chinese trade embargo on Australian coal. The embargo kept them from reaching China, but maritime law prevented them from taking off with a cargo that had been bought by Chinese merchants.
“Our seafarers who were doing their job were caught in a political and trade war between Australia and China,” Abdulgani Serang, general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India, told dpa.
The 23-member crew of the Indian vessel Jag Anand arrived in Tokyo late on Monday, Serang said. Shiptracking website MarineTraffic also showed the ship docking in Tokyo. From there, the sailors will fly to India after clearing pandemic procedures.
To read the full article from South China Morning Post, please click here