Stranded crew of MV Anastasia relieved after a year

Eighteen sailors are expected to disembark coal ship the MV Anastasia on Wednesday morning, after being stuck at sea off the coast of China for more than a year.

Crew aboard the MV Anastasia haven't been allowed ashore for more than a year. Picture; Twitter.

Eighteen jubilant sailors are expected to disembark beleaguered coal ship the MV Anastasia on Wednesday morning, after being stuck at sea off the coast of China for more than a year.

The ship, carrying Australian coal, has departed Chinese waters, headed for Japan, where a crew change is expected to take place on Wednesday AEDT.

The crew will undergo medical checks before being permitted to return home to their families, bringing their nightmare at sea to an end.

The Australian, along with national and international media, has been reporting the case since late 2020, after sailors on board the Anastasia made contact by Twitter and WhatsApp, alerting journalists to their plight.

China was refusing to let them disembark, citing COVID concerns, when political games were actually at play.

The Anastasia collected its haul of coal at the Port of Hay in Queensland in July 2020 before sailing to the port of Caofeidian, in China’s Hebei province, arriving September 20, 2020.

China then refused the ship permission to unload.

COVID protocols prevented the sailors from disembarking in Queensland. meaning many have been at sea, without putting foot on land, for more than a year.

Confusion surrounds the circumstances under which the Anastasia finally upped and left Chinese waters, with its owner, the Swiss-Italian Mediterranean Shipping Company, saying in a statement it had taken matters into its own hands, fearing a humanitarian disaster if the coal combusted, or crew members began to take their own lives.

In a statement, the company said it was “left with no other option but to advise the master of Anastasia to make a short hop to Japan, after already grave concerns for the safety and wellbeing of the seafarers intensified”.

“MSC prioritised the Japanese option as the quickest and most efficient way to provide the necessary relief for the crew,” the statement said.

However, Indian diplomats in Beijing have said China had in fact agreed to India’s request to permit a crew change, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava informing a briefing of journalists in Beijing over the weekend that India had negotiated the release of the sailors.

“After sustained follow-up by our embassy in Beijing, the Chinese central authorities have conveyed their clearance to the local foreign office in Tangshan and port authorities,” he said.

“This information has also been shared with the shipping company, and we understand it has submitted the request to the concerned authorities.

“We hope the crew change can now be effected at the earliest.”

The plight of the crew has been the subject of campaigns across the Australian media, including in The Weekend Australian on Saturday, with readers imploring the Australian government to act.

Australian suppliers had been paid for the coal; it could not be taken back. The ship couldn’t leave Chinese waters with Chinese-owned coal on board, either.

Confusion as to who was responsible for the men aboard the ship has long been apparent: the Anastasia is owned by the Swiss-Italian Mediterranean Shipping Company, but chartered to Jiangsu Steamship, a Chinese company.

The intended receiver of its coal is E-Commodities Holding, incorporated in the British Virgin Islands and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The vessel flies a Panamanian flag.

Still, its owner said in a statement on Tuesday it had “effectively resolved the matter, avoided a humanitarian crisis on-board and mitigated the related safety risks”.

It said the ship was moved after it had “exhausted all possible options for crew change including efforts at a diplomatic level between Indian and Chinese authorities”.

The ship is one of at least 70 stuck off the coast of China in recent months amid a trade dispute.

China is on one hand believed to be holding up delivery of Australia coal as punishment for the Australian government’s queries about the origins of COVID-19.

But China is also engaged in land disputes with India, and most of the Anastasia’s crew are Indian.

The shipping company has implored China to release other stranded ships, as “the wellbeing of seafarers and their families is above commercial interests”.

The crew will undergo “thorough medical examinations before being repatriated by MSC to reunite with their families as soon as possible”.

MSC will continue to monitor their physical and mental health.