Bhubaneswar, Nov 10 : After they were stranded for two months in Paradip port in Orissa, the 26 crew members of the sunken Mongolian ship MV Black Rose left for their countries Tuesday. They were allowed to go home after the International Transport Federation (ITF) intervened.

The ill-fated Mongolian ship, with 27 crew on board, sank off Paradip on Sep 9. It was transporting 25,000 tonnes of iron ore fines to China. The chief engineer, Oleksander Ilyushchenko - a Ukrainian national - however, died in the mishap while all others were rescued.

The 26 rescued crew include 17 Bangladeshis, three Russians and six Ukrainians. They were staying at the Aristocrat Hotel in Paradip.

On Tuesday, all the crew flew home. Their release was not possible earlier due to delay in the official clearance from the shipping ministry.

"We thank the International Transport Federation for intervening as we were stuck in Paradip since the last two months. We were waiting for clearance from DG Shipping for months," said Seikh Kairzamman, the second engineer of MV Black Rose.

"We are happy to get home. We thank the ITF and immigration department for their help," said Sergei Kamarov, the captain of the cargo ship. (IANS)