Chennai, Jun 23 (IANS): As many as 198 Indians stranded in Maldives were brought to V.O. Chidambaranar port in Tuticorin on Tuesday morning by Indian Navy ship Airavat, said a defence official.
The repatriation is part of Operation Samudra Setu under the Vande Bharat Mission to bring back Indians stranded in other countries as the flights were grounded to prevent spread of coronavirus.
The ship had left the Male port on Monday. The passengers on disembarkation were screened by the port health officials. Their luggage was also sanitised.
As per the protocol, the passengers at the port terminal were asked to download the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones and other formalities were also carried out.
Earlier this month nearly 700 Indians stranded in Maldives and a similar number of Indians stranded in Sri Lanka were brought to Tuticorin by the Navy.