First contact on Jan 26; HP’s detained sailor tells family ‘will be back shortly’

Rikshit, from Kangar’s Palampur, was detained when an oil tanker operating under the Russian flag was seized by the US Coast Guard in the North Atlantic in the first week of January.

Ranjit Singh said his son made the first call to him on January 26 around 8.30 AM. Since then they have talked at least four times. The latest call by Rikshit to his parents was on the evening of January 29.

Dikshit, Rikshit’s elder brother, is scheduled to get married on February 22. The father said, “Rikshit told me that he will be able to attend Dikshit’s marriage… He told me that there are some formalities related to their documents being completed.”

Rikshit’s detention had left his family in deep distress, with his father saying that only high-level diplomatic intervention, including by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, could ensure his son’s release.

The family said Rikshit had joined the Merchant Navy in August last year and this was his first assignment at sea. His elder brother is a bank manager posted in Palampur, while his mother Reeta Devi is a homemaker.

The father, who is a clerk in the Palampur’s revenue department, had said the family has since been living in constant anxiety, with no official communication from any government authority. Following the incident, local MLA Ashish Butail contacted the family and assured them of all possible assistance. Later, former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur also visited the family.

The tanker, Marinera — earlier known as Bella 1 — had been chartered by a private trader and was reportedly carrying crude oil linked to Venezuela. It was en route to Russia when it was intercepted by the US Coast Guard, reportedly for sanctions-related violations.