Eleven seamen who were on board Antonia, a Greece-bound vessel owned by a Greek businessman, were sent back home to Egypt on Tuesday. The ship which was stopped off the coast of Greece last June, was prevented it from entering the country because the sailors did not have the required license and documentation.
According to Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Abdel Hakam, the sailors were finally returned home after contacts between Egyptian and Greek authorities over the past five weeks. Greek authorities eventually agreed to grant the ship a license to facilitate its legal return back to Egypt.
Abdel Hakam added that the problem has been settled, and that the sailors were exonerated from charges of putting the ship at risk by abandoning it.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
