Detained Chinese liner leaves Jeju Island

JEJU, South Korea - The detained Chinese cruise liner Henna departed from South Korea's Jeju Island for China at 8:30 pm local time on Monday with the rest of more than 50 passengers on board, according to the Chinese Consulate General in Jeju Island.

The detained ship, with the last batch of around 85 people including tour guides and staff of HNA tourism on board, is expected to arrive in China's Tianjin city on Wednesday morning, said Sun Limin, an official of the Chinese Consulate General in Jeju Island.

Another two chartered planes have already taken around 430 stranded passengers back to Beijing on Monday afternoon. By now, all the 1,659 passengers have left Jeju for China.

HNA Tourism, the Beijing-based operator of the Henna, has paid a deposit of 3 billion won (2.8 million) to the Jeju court for the release of the ship.

HNA Tourism last Sunday had sent five chartered planes to bring 1,121 passengers back To China.

Every passenger agreeing to take the chartered plane has signed an agreement with HNA to accept a compensation of around 2,000 RMB ($327) or a free ticket of Henna within one year, Sun said.

The cruise Henna, with 1,659 passengers and a crew of 650 on board, was scheduled to sail at 4:00 pm local time last Friday from Jeju to Incheon. It was detained before departure by a Jeju court which received a seizure application on claims of legal disputes from a subsidiary company of Jiangsu Shagang Group Co., Ltd.

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