Such a long period of repatriation was required because of the restrictions on communication between Russia and China.
In early December last year, stormy weather drove the Chinese dry cargo ship Xing Yuang off course and threw the vessel ashore. Twelve members of the bulk carrier's crew have since been forced to stay in Russia. Yesterday it became known that the sailors flew home to China. This was reported by Nikolay Sukhanov, chairman of the Far Eastern Regional Organization of Russian Seafarers' Trade Union.
The bulk carrier Xing Yuang came to the port of Kholmsk from Japan last year. It ran aground on December 6 when the vessel was unmooring to take a homeport. Crew members were evacuated from the vessel. They were then sent from Sakhalin to Vladivostok, where they lived first in a hotel for two months and later joined Chinese construction workers in the town of Bolshoi Kamen, where they were waiting to leave for China with their compatriots.
"The Chinese sailors were sent on a separate board from Vladivostok to China along with the replacement part of the workers from Bolshoi Kamen. The clearance process took a long time, visas and tickets had to be arranged," Sukhanov specified.
There were problems with sending Xing Yuang's crew because of restrictions on communication between Russia and China. The Chinese Seamen's Union repeatedly asked their Russian colleagues for help in repatriating the crew of the Chinese dry cargo ship, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, air and land routes between the countries were closed.