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Published : 20 Jul 2026, 10:43 PM
After nearly four months stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, 16 crew members of the Bangladeshi merchant ship Banglar Joyjatra are set to return home on Tuesday.
The vessel’s Chief Engineer Rashedul Hasan told bdnews24.com on Monday that 17 crew members had signed off at Durban Port in South Africa.
"Apart from myself, the others are scheduled to arrive at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport on an Emirates Airlines flight at 5:25pm Tuesday," he said.
The group, including Captain Shafiqul Islam, departed Durban’s King Shaka International Airport for Dubai on Monday evening local time.
They are scheduled to leave Dubai for Dhaka on Tuesday morning.
Chief Engineer Rashedul also signed off from the vessel, though he is not returning home immediately.
He said that he will travel to the US before returning home later.
Following the blockade, the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation (BSC) vessel set sail from Fujairah Port in the United Arab Emirates on Jun 26, bound for Durban Port in South Africa.
According to MarineTraffic, a vessel-tracking platform, the ship arrived at Durban Port on Jul 16.
The vessel was carrying 37,500 tonnes of fertiliser loaded at Saudi Arabia's Ras Al Khair Port in early April, which is currently being unloaded in Durban.
Rashedul said, "After this, sugar will be loaded onto the vessel. The remaining crew members will then navigate the ship to Malaysia."
After being stranded in the Strait of Hormuz for 115 days, the vessel crossed the waterway around 3am Bangladesh time on Jun 23, anchoring at Fujairah Port in the UAE later that day.
The BSC-owned vessel is operated under charter by a Singapore-based firm.
All 31 crew members on board are Bangladeshi nationals.
