Jun 24, 2008, 6:45 GMT
Hong Kong - More than 100 US sailors were marooned Tuesday in Hong Kong's famous 'girlie' bars after their aircraft carrier hoisted anchor and left without them.
The sailors were left behind when the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and its support ships, carrying a total of more than 5,000 sailors, decided to leave Sunday because of an approaching tropical storm.
While officers managed to contact most of the men who had been on shore leave in the former British colony since Thursday, more than 100 could not be reached and were left behind.
They now have to wait several days in Hong Kong before being flown to the aircraft carrier group's next port of call, which is kept secret for operational reasons.
The sailors were expected to spend most of that time in Hong Kong's Wan Chai district - famous for its raunchy nightlife and Filipino bar girls. The US Navy would cover their hotel and meal costs.
'I'm sure they're not tremendously depressed,' US Navy spokesman Lieutenant Ron Flanders told the South China Morning Post newspaper in a story published Tuesday.
One sailor stranded in a Wan Chai bar Sunday evening as his colleagues headed out to sea told the newspaper, 'Hong Kong is a fantastic city to be stuck in.'
The sudden departure of the USS Ronald Reagan and its support ships was caused by Typhoon Fengshen, which lashed the Philippines and caused a storm warning to be issued in Hong Kong.
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