Stranded seafarers from Nagaland finally on their way back home

Our Correspondent
Kohima, July 7 (EMN): Eight seafarers consisting of two men and six women from Nagaland will be reaching Dimapur early Wednesday morning.

The returnees from Nagaland were part of the 746 seafarers who had reached a Mumbai port on July 1 on a Norwegian cruise liner, one of the biggest ships in the world, following which they started their journey on July 3 to Nagaland after undergoing necessary protocol-related processes from a Mumbai cruise terminal.

They are expected to arrive in Dimapur on Wednesday, after travelling for six nights and five days on a 24-seater bus from Mumbai.

Prior to their arrival in Mumbai, the eight passengers were among 1,219 Indian crew members onboard the United States-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), who began their voyage to India from the USA via a vessel that could carry a total number of 7,000 people.       

Speaking to Eastern Mirror, the returnees shared that before sailing to India, they had been to many countries in their respective ships under the same cruise line. By the third week of March, when all cruise ships ceased to operate due to Covid-19 pandemic, they were picked up by a NCL Escape from Miami port in USA, which finally ferried them to India through the Mormugao port in Goa, on June 29.

After docking at Mormugao, all the 473 Goan seafarers out of 1,219 disembarked from the ship on getting tested negative for Covid-19, while the rest of the 746 crew members had to remain onboard for three days at the port.

On  July 1, they sailed from Mormugao to a naval base in Mumbai from where swab tests were collected, following which the samples of the remaining 746 crew members belonging to different states of India, were all tested negative.

What the crew members say

Sesato Swuro, a stateroom steward and chaplain in one of the cruise ships, shared his desire to come home. "No matter where I have been, I am still excited to come home because that's where my heart belongs," he said.

"Will strictly follow those set of protocols regarding institutional quarantine as well as home quarantine after which only I will see my family and loved ones," added Swuro who has been working at NCLH for 12 years.

He shared that tests were conducted on all the crew members several times regardless of nationality since March 14. He said they were "very much blessed" since tests were done ‘on a daily basis’ and the results came out negative for everyone.

Hovikali, a hospitality staff member, said she was happy to be coming home. She shared that besides her parents, she has missed her elder sister whose husband passed away just two weeks ago. "I'm desperate to meet my sister," she said.

Despite losing her brother-in-law, she expressed positivity when she was reminded about the mandatory protocols to be followed before going home. She said that it wouldn't be a problem for her to undergo confinement during the quarantine periods in the state as they had stopped cruising since March and were since then onboard the ships due to the pandemic.

Tony Tenden Singh, who was born and brought up in Dimapur, and serving as a restaurant staff on the cruiser, also expressed happiness at coming home.

He shared that he has been keeping in touch with his family members over the years by connecting with them through phone calls and social media while working on the ship.

Not long after Singh's contract with the cruise started in February this year, the pandemic swept over many places around the world. He shared that there was no means of coming home due to the Covid-19 crisis throughout Europe since all flights and other means of transportation were restricted.

Hoinu Hengna, a spa assistant in the cruiser, termed their homecoming as "wonderful," while sharing that she has been waiting to come home for a long time. "Finally we made it! It feels wonderful! We can't wait to reach home and relax," she said.

She added that she is "mentally prepared" to undergo the mandatory quarantine period as she feels that being in the safe zone (quarantine centre) is the "best option”.