Consulate provides food to stranded Lankan sailors

The Sri Lankan mission in Jeddah stepped in to supply food for 34 stranded crew members on a cargo vessel anchored outside Jeddah seaport.

The cargo vessel, MV Lanka Mahapola, which came from Sudan with 33 Sri Lankan sailors and one Irish engineer aboard and anchored five kilometers away from the Jeddah harbour, had been sending SOS signals to its local agents in Colombo saying its food supplies had run out since December 6.

On receiving the SOS call from Foreign Ministry Secretary K. Amunugama, consul general of the Sri Lankan Consulate in Jeddah, Adam Bawa Uthuma Lebbe acted swiftly on Saturday to supply food for the sailors.

The liner was on its way back to Colombo via Jeddah after delivering some cargo at a Sudanese port. Courtesy: Arab News