Sailors just 'glad to be back home'

By Zhang Xin (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-26 07:42

The three sailors whose boat New Star was sunk by a Russian gunship near the port of Nakhodka in Russia, arrived home yesterday morning.

Li Guangchao, 25; Liu Feng, 28; and Song Jin, 30 - all from Shandong province - said they were relieved to be home safe after their ordeal.

Wu Jian, an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met the men on their arrival at Beijing's Capital International Airport.

"Their safe return was what everyone in the country wanted. I'm glad to see all three are fit and well," he said.

The sailors later flew on to Qingdao, Shandong.

Song Jin said: "It was a terrible experience in Russia, but I'm lucky I survived."

The 30-year-old said he is now looking for a new job and "will see how everything goes".

"We haven't received any information about compensation for us or the seven Chinese still missing," he said.

The New Star sank on Feb 15 in the Sea of Japan, after being fired on by the Russian coast guard.

The three Chinese sailors and five Indonesian sailors escaped in a raft, Song said.

However, eight members of the 16-man crew - seven Chinese and one Indonesian - have not been seen since.

Li, Liu and Song were quizzed by Russian authorities in Nakhodka after being picked out of the sea.

On Friday, the spokesman for Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: "The captain of the New Star is responsible for the whole incident".

On the same day, Zhang Xiyun, vice-head of the department of European-Central Asian Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Russia's attitude to the sinking was "not understandable and unacceptable" and demanded further investigation.

The ship's operator, a Hong Kong-based shipping company on Thursday blamed the Russian coast guard for the sinking.

"The three coast guard vessels which were chasing the New Star should hold full responsibility for the losses as they kept on firing at the ship for hours, which caused her to spring a serious leak and eventually sink. They showed no concern for the lives of the 16 crew," a company statement said.

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will release an investigation report tomorrow, Russian media reported.

(China Daily 02/26/2009 page3)