Kushinagar (UP), Oct 14 A 25-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district remains missing four days after a drone attack on a Dubai-owned tanker at Oman’s Sohar Port, with no information about his whereabouts so far, officials and his family said on Wednesday.
Amit Kumar Singh alias Mukul, a resident of Gopalpur ward in Hata municipality, was among the 11 Indian crew members aboard the tanker MT Petro Dolphin when it came under attack on Sunday. Nine crew members were rescued, while two, including Singh, remain unaccounted for, his family members said.
Singh’s father, Dev Prakash Singh, said a company employee informed the family around 2 pm on Sunday that the tanker had been attacked by a drone and two crew members were missing.
His mother, Poonam Devi, said she had spoken to her son over the phone on Sunday morning. He had told her that maintenance work on the tanker would be completed soon, after which it would head to a Gulf country to load oil.
The tanker, operated by Dubai-based SK Engineering Shipping and Trading Private Limited, had travelled from Dubai to Oman and remained stationed at Sohar Port for three days, according to the family.
Singh had joined the company on January 23 this year, his father said.
He added that the Union government had informed the family that the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was sharing regular updates with the Omani authorities.
The family has appealed to the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure Singh’s safe recovery and return to India. His relatives said they were in continuous contact with the company and the embassy but had received no information about him so far.
Hata Tehsildar Jaya Singh said on Wednesday that the administration was in touch with the family and had sent the necessary report to the district administration. However, no fresh information had been received, she said.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Mayank Tripathi also said there was no update on the missing man.
The family continues to await news of Singh as uncertainty over his whereabouts persists.
Earlier in June and September, two seafarers from eastern UP’s Deoria district had also lost their lives amid the ongoing conflict and attacks in West Asia.
Suraj Yadav, 23, was killed in a missile attack on merchant vessel MV Cape Dao near Oman’s eastern coast on September 24.
In June, another seafarer, Shivanand Chaurasia, was killed when the Palau-flagged tanker Settebello was attacked off the Oman coast. Two other people were also confirmed dead in that incident, while 21 of the 24 Indian crew members aboard were rescued.
Following attacks on merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz in July, the Centre reviewed the safety of Indian seafarers in conflict-sensitive regions and launched the ‘Seafarer-First’ initiative under a high-level review chaired by Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
On October 12, the MEA condemned attacks on two merchant vessels, including MT Petro Dolphin, on which two of 11 Indian crew members went missing, and MT Valthera, whose 11 Indian crew members were reported safe.
India said its embassy in Muscat was coordinating with Omani authorities and ship management companies to assist the missing seafarers, and called for de-escalation, dialogue and protection of freedom of navigation.
(PTI News)
