Stranded on a ship near Sharjah for 3 months, Egyptian sailors call for help
An Egyptian crew on board the oil ship 'Petro 1,' owned by Petrofleet, a free zone limited liability company, appealed to the Foreign Ministry and the Egyptian Consulate in Dubai to intervene quickly and rescue them, after being stranded at sea for three months near the port of Sharjah.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry confirmed that a boat was deployed alongside the ship to ensure the safety of the sailors and the availability of supplies.
The distress call included the names of the Egyptian sailors on board.
Their call for help, circulated widely on social media, stated: 'The ship has been stranded since February, without knowing the official reasons preventing it from docking.'
They appealed to the Egyptian Consulate to intervene quickly as their food, supplies, and water were running low.
Crew member Captain Mohamed Nabil Abdel-Moneim said in a widely circulated voice message: 'The vessel left Ajman Port at the end of January after a comprehensive maintenance of the engine and hull. The ship's livery was changed to the Ajman Port flag. After some distance, the ship developed a malfunction. We threw a hook and tried to repair it.'
'We were surprised by the Sharjah Coast Guard approaching us and asking why we were stopped without permission. They asked for our papers, so we gave them the papers on the ship—our passports and seafarer's licenses only—because the company hadn't left us any other papers. The Coast Guard asked us to head to Sharjah, and the malfunction took some time to be fixed.'
'After communicating with the ship's owner, he requested that we exit territorial waters to avoid any problems, and we did so.'
He confirmed that his three generators had completely broken down, leaving the ship without any electricity.
Al-Masry Al-Youm contacted Abdel-Moneim, who confirmed that they are still stranded at sea.
He added that their vessel is an oil ship which is currently empty and unloaded.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the Egyptian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Consulate General in Dubai had urgently contacted the Emirati side to determine the developments related to the ship and to ensure the safety of its crew.
The ministry added that the Egyptian Embassy and Consulate in the UAE coordinated with Emirati authorities in this regard. They dispatched a UAE Coast Guard boat to the ship to ensure the safety of the sailors and the availability of supplies for the crew.
The Consulate General in Dubai dispatched its representatives to Sharjah Port to monitor the situation on a regular basis. Representatives of the Egyptian Consulate communicated by phone with the ship's crew to check on their well-being.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
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