Seafarer Mohammad Aisha is going home thanks to ITF, ending four years on abandoned ship 22 Apr 2021 Press Release
Seafarer Mohammad Aisha is tonight boarding an airplane to return to his native Syria, ending a four-year battle where he was forced to live on an abandoned ship in the Suez Canal while the vessel waited to be sold.
Mr Aisha is free because the ITF offered to have one of its union representatives in Egypt take Mr Aisha’s place and become the legal guardian of the vessel.
Mr Aisha was the chief officer onboard the Bharani-flagged
MV Aman (IMO 9215517) for just two months before the vessel was detained by Egyptian authorities due to expired safety equipment certificates.
This has been one of the most frustrating abandonment cases I have worked on, because the situation has been so desperate for Mohammad for so long, said International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) Arab World and Iran network coordinator Mohamed Arrachedi. It has to be said that the suffering caused to Mohammad could have been perfectly avoided if the shipowner and the other parties with obligations to him and the ship did the right thing from the start. So much has changed in the last four years. Mohamed’s home in Syria could be unrecognisable. Some of his family died years ago. The delays mean he will never see his mother again, and that is terribly sad.
Stranded sailor allowed to leave abandoned ship after four years
Mohammed Aisha joined his “cursed” ship, the MV Aman, on 5 May 2017.
Today, after spending almost four years on board stranded off the Egyptian coast, he was freed and flown home to Syria. So how does he feel?
His text, from the aircraft on the tarmac at Cairo airport, was brief.
“Relief. Joy.”
And then came a voice message.
“How do I feel? Like I finally got out of prison. I’m finally going to be rejoined with my family. I’m going to see them again.”
It marks the end of an ordeal which has taken its toll on Mohammed’s physical and mental health. He was, after all, condemned to a life without power, sanitation or company.
Sailor Stranded Alone on Abandoned Ship for Four Years Finally Freed
On 4/23/21 at 11:04 AM EDT
After a long four years stranded at sea in an abandoned ship on the Suez Canal, a sailor was finally cleared to leave and go home.
Syrian sailor Mohammed Aisha was permitted to leave his cursed ship after spending nearly four years alone in squalor just off the Egyptian coast.
According to a report from the BBC, Aisha boarded the MV Aman in May 2017 and was promptly named chief officer of the vessel. Two months later, however, his voyage went awry when Egyptian port authorities detained the cargo ship because its safety equipment had expired.
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