Indian Navy successfully completes first massive evacuation; 698 repatriated Indians reaches Kochi

Kochi, May 11: Indian Navy's amphibious warship INS Jalashwa, carrying 698 Indian nationals stranded in the Maldives arrived at Kochi on Sunday. This repatriation as part of 'Operation Samudra Setu' was the Indian Navy’s first massive evacuation exercise from overseas during the lockdown.

  

The ship took off from Maldive's capital Male to Kochi on Friday night comprising 595 male and 103 female passengers. Of this, 14 are children below 10 years of age, and 19 are pregnant women.

 

"All necessary measures were taken by the respective teams to ensure safe embarkation with minimal social contact. Adequate care was also taken to cater for the old aged people, pregnant ladies and children in arms during the trip. All the passengers were handled by trained Indian Navy personnel donning Personal Protective Equipment. The evacuation operation was conducted in accordance with all Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and guidelines issued by the Government of India," the statement read.

 

All the arrangements were made by the naval and civil administration. The evacuees were received, by the naval and civil administration authorities present at the Cruise Terminal of Cochin Port Trust, where the ship has berthed. There were arrangements for speedy completion of the virus screening and immigration formalities at the port.

 

"Glassed counters have been set up at the terminal in accordance with medical protocol for Customs, Immigration, Police, Health department, BSNL and District Administration. In addition, baggage trolleys for the passengers were arranged from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), all aimed at facilitating speedy disembarkation, segregation and completion of all health and medical formalities in an efficient manner, " it further added.

 

INS Jalashwa, based at Visakhapatnam has been at the forefront of similar evacuation efforts of Indian nationals and major Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts of the Indian Navy. The ship is designed to carry troops and the facilities onboard were modified for the ongoing evacuation. She is manned by trained medical teams of the Indian Navy, specifically embarked on the ongoing Operation.

 

Another amphibious ship, INS Magar, based at Kochi left Male on Sunday with 202 Indian nationals. This entire exercise is part of Vande Bharat Mission of the Government of India for repatriation of Indian nationals from the Middle East and the Maldives in the backdrop of the pandemic.