16 crew members of ‘Banglar Joyjatra’ returning home on Tuesday

Sixteen crew members of the state-owned Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) vessel Banglar Joyjatra are returning to Bangladesh on Tuesday after being stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for nearly four months.

The ship's Chief Engineer, Rashedul Hasan, confirmed that 17 crew members signed off and disembarked upon reaching the Port of Durban in South Africa on Monday night. Among them, 16 crew members, including Captain Shafiqul Islam, are scheduled to arrive at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 5:25pm via an Emirates Airlines flight on Tuesday.

The sailors departed from King Shaka International Airport in South Africa for Dubai on Monday evening local time and will fly out from there to Dhaka on Tuesday morning. Chief Engineer Rashedul Hasan, who also signed off from the vessel, will not return to Bangladesh immediately; he is traveling to the United States first and will return to Bangladesh later.

After overcoming a prolonged deadlock in the Strait of Hormuz, Banglar Joyjatra departed from the Port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates on June 26 for the Port of Durban. According to ship-tracking websites, the vessel arrived at the Port of Durban on July 16.

The ship is currently unloading 37,500 tons of fertilizer brought from the Port of Ras Al Khair in Saudi Arabia. Following this, the ship will be loaded with sugar, and the remaining crew members will sail the vessel toward Malaysia.

On June 23 late at night Bangladesh time, Banglar Joyjatra successfully crossed the Strait of Hormuz after 115 days and anchored at the Port of Fujairah in the UAE on the same day.

A total of 31 Bangladeshi sailors were working on this BSC vessel, which is operated under charter by a Singapore-based company. The ship's movement in the Strait of Hormuz was halted following its arrival at the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai on February 28 due to military tensions surrounding Iran involving the United States and Israel. Despite three failed attempts to cross the strait, the vessel finally set sail from the outer anchorage area of Sharjah Port on June 22 and safely crossed the Strait of Hormuz the following day.