Operation Samudra Setu: Navy ship brings back 233 stranded Indians from Iran

Ahmedabad: Under the Indian Navy’s ‘Samudra Setu’ operation, naval ship ‘INS Shardul’ on Thursday brought back 233 Indians to Gujarat from Iran, where they were stranded due to travel restrictions in view of the coronavirus -induced lockdown.

The ship set sail from Bandar Abbas port of Iran on June 8 with these 233 Indians, mostly fishermen from Valsad district of the state, and arrived at Porbandar port on Thursday, said defence PRO for Gujarat, Puneet Chadha.

“The ship is docked at Porbandar port and passengers are being deboarded. The local administration has made arrangements to send them to their respective native places,” said Chadha.

He said safety protocols, including pre-boarding health check-up and social distancing during the journey, were followed on the ship to stop the spread of coronavirus.

He added that doctors and nutritionists along with life-saving equipment were kept on the naval ship to deal with any emergency during the journey.

Earlier, naval ships ‘Jalashwa’ and ‘Magar’ had evacuated 2,874 Indians from the Maldives and Sri Lanka to ports of Kochi and Tuticorin under ‘Samudra Setu’ operation, launched to bring back Indians stranded abroad following the lockdown.