Vessel sinks off Philippines: Mumbai sailor still missing as Japan Coast Guard calls off ops

Nair with his family.

More than 10 days after a 33,205-tonne cargo vessel, Emerald Star, sank 280 km off the Philippines, the Japanese Coast Guard has called off its rescue operation to track a Virar-based Captain Rajesh Nair, who is among 10 missing crew members.

Nair’s relatives will request the Japanese government via external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to resume rescue operations.

The cargo ship with 26 Indians on board was carrying minerals from Hong Kong to Indonesia when it capsized on October 13. After it sent a distress call, 16 of them were rescued.

​Meanwhile, families of four missing sailors are to meet Swaraj in New Delhi on Thursday. Nair’s family is optimistic that he is safe and could be marooned at one of the islands.

On Sunday, Capt Santosh Kumar S Darokar, deputy director general (shipping) of the ministry of shipping, Amar Singh Thakur, general secretary of Maritime Union of India, and a representative of the Chennai-based shipping firm, met the family. They promise that the government will bear all travel costs to Delhi where they will meet Swaraj. Nair’s wife, Reshmi who a traffic inspector with the Western Railway, and his sister Krishna will fly from Mumbai on Wednesday,said Ramesh, a relative.​

The Nairs said they were clueless about the status of the rescue operations as neither the Japanese Coast Guard not the shipping firm had revealed information about rescue operations. They are not telling whereabouts of the 16 rescued sailors either​, said another relative.​

​Reshmi and Rajesh have two children — Vedant , 8, and Ishita, 3. Rajesh’s late father Ramchandran worked with Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) as an electrical officer, while his mother Ramani is a home maker.

The last call Rajesh made was on October 3 when he called his friend Jaimin Patel through WhatsApp and said he would be coming to Virar in December.

Source: Hindustan Times