Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 17: Jayaprakash from Kalladka in Bantwal taluk of Dakshna Kannada district, Jayaprakash, who has been employed by Royal Caribbean Cruise ship currently at Miyami in USA is waiting to come back home. "We are spending time inside the ship at sea since the last 32 days. Because of coronavirus scare, none of the countries including the USA are allowing us entry into their ports. We want to go back to our motherland. I sincerely wish that the government of India facilitates our safe passage," Jayaprakash pleads.

Jayaprakash, who said he has been working for the said cruise ship for the last six years, recollects that life was good till coronavirus problem erupted. Speaking to a Kannada daily over phone from inside the ship, he said he was visiting his family once in six months. He says he and many of his fellow workers are stuck inside the ship and requests the Indian government to airlift them from there.

Jayaprakash

Jayaprakash said that people from several other countries were with him but all of them have gone back to their homes with the support of their governments. "Our company is prepared to send us to India by chartered plane but because of lockdown in India, we are not getting permission. We request the central government to evince interest and see that we get an opportunity to fly back to India," he said.

Jayaprakash says that his company has been taking care of food, medicine and other requirements of the people inside the ship, and all the staff are under quarantine. He said that about 450 among the employees in the ship are Indians. "Our American company owns 36 ships," he stated, adding that he and his fellow workers are ready to meet quarantine conditions that may be imposed once they reach India.