The Sri Lankan crew members of Aris 13, the oil tanker hijacked and later released by Somali pirates, would possibly have to wait for more than a week in order to return back home to their loved ones following their traumatizing experience.
Speaking to Ada Derana over the phone, the ship’s second engineer Dileepa Ranaweera said that the welcoming ceremony organized today for them at the Port of Bosaso has also been pushed back to tomorrow (19).
He stated that the heads of the shipping company are expected to arrive from Dubai and that international media are also expected to arrive in order to cover the event and press conference. He stated that flight delays have led to these being postponed.
On their return back home to Sri Lanka, Ranaweera said that they are all working under contract and that they will have to wait for another crew to come and take over from them before they can leave. This could take more than a week, he said.
He said that an exact date cannot be given as to when they will arrive in Sri Lanka.
They had arrived at the port at around 9.00pm in Sri Lankan time following an 8-hour sea journey away from the location where they were held by pirated for nearly 5 days.
