Four members of the crew of the ship Rojen, who sought evacuation from the Israeli port of Ashdod, have returned to Bulgaria. They landed at Sofia Airport from Tel Aviv with a delay of several hours after their plane had to return to Israel due to a technical problem.

• The ship Rojen is waiting to be unloaded at Port of Ashdod near the Gaza strip

“At 6.30 AM on 7 October we saw the first black smoke from Gaza. We had to move once after a bomb went off 200 metres from where we were,” said first mate Stoycho Angelov after the sailors’ return. He stated further there were 17 more people on board – 12 of them Bulgarian and 5 Ukrainian.

The bulk carrier Rojen was half-unloaded but it is expected to leave the port in a week at the earliest. That is why the crew members who asked to leave had to be evacuated. They have been replaced by new sailors sent by ship owner the Bulgarian Shipping Company Navibulgar.