Five Kenyan seamen returned from Indonesia where they had been stranded for two years after their ship broke down in the high seas. But even though the crew of Mv Queen Bihanga, a cargo boat, were overjoyed when they arrived at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa on Thursday, they remembered their desperate stay in Jakarta where they were held because their travel papers were not in order.
The crew were torn between blaming the vessel owner, Mr Rafiki Abraham Diego, for their plight and remonstrating that their situation could have been avoided.
“We knew that in case of a mishap, the owner of the vessel would have our back. However, the owner failed us when he refused to listen to our technical advice on the suitability of the ship he bought from a Phillipines shipyard,’’ said Captain Athman Khamis Athman.
However, speaking to Saturday Standard from Dubai the ship’s owner, Mr Diego, said he was glad the seamen had returned.
“I am glad they have arrived safely but a lot of what they have said about me is not true,” said the Burundi national, referring to claims that he abandoned the sailors.
The crew said they were first held for 10 days by Indonesian immigration authorities then spent the rest of the time they were away in their ship or port because they were not allowed into Jakarta.
The other members of the crew included Imbuga Aggrey Diede, an electrician, Mapinga Mwalimu, Tela Hamisi Juma, a cook, and Yusuf Omar Ragunda, a greaser.
The exhausted sailors arrived in Mombasa from Nairobi aboard a Kenya Airways flight KQ 606. They had flown from Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, to arrive in Nairobi on Thursday.
Their rickety vessel is now moored off the Tanjuk Priok port in Jakarta after first docking on Port Labuan in Malaysia from the Philipines.
On hand to receive crew at Moi airport was International Transport Federation Mombasa Port Inspector Betty Makena among officials from other maritime organisations.
Makena said they would ensure the crew receives Sh8.4 million ($ 84,000) in accrued wages.
“We are grateful that our brothers are back. What remains now is for legal proceedings to have the ship owner committed to paying the sailors’ salaries and arrears,’’ Makena said.
Haki Africa Rapid Response Officer Francis Auma said the civil society organisation that is based in Mombasa would assist the crew and their families.
