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Journalism of Courage
The family of a 22-year-old seafarer from Pune serving as a deck cadet on a merchant ship of a global maritime group, who went missing from the ship last week, said the company has not answered their questions on how he went missing, the search operation and who is answerable about the incident.
The family said they met the officials from the Directorate General of Shipping in Mumbai and also gave a statement to Mumbai police.
Pranav Karad, a resident of Warje Malwadi area in Pune, was recruited by Mumbai-based Wilhelmsen Ship Management (India) Pvt Ltd of the Wilhelmsen Group, said his father Gopal Karad, who works as a cab driver in Pune.
According to the family, Pranav was deployed as a deck cadet for the last six months on Resolve II vessel, which is a gas tanker. On Friday night, the family got a call and Saturday morning an email from the company authorities saying Pranav was missing from the ship when it was between Singapore and Indonesia.
“Today (Monday), we came to Mumbai to give a statement to the Mumbai police at the MIDC police station in Andheri. We were told by Pune police to approach the Mumbai police since the company is based in Andheri. The police had also called the officials from the Wilhelmsen Group,” Gopal Karad told The Indian Express over phone.
“We confronted the company officials asking them for CCTV footage from the ship, where Pranav could be last seen. We asked them to explain to us what was his last known status and location on the ship. We asked them to connect us to the captain of the ship or other sailors sailing with him. They refused to give us any information or cooperate with us,” said Karad.
“They are just telling us that the search operation is on and that they are doing everything they can. But don’t we have the right to know these things? We still don’t know how he went missing and what his state of mind was at the time. We don’t know the specifics of the search operation and nobody is telling us who is answerable for the incident. We even requested a meeting with the top officials of the Wilhelmsen Group but that request has also been rejected,” said Karad.
Pranav’s cousin Anun Mundhe said, “After meeting the police in Mumbai, we also met the officer from the Directorate General of Shipping. The officers have assured us full cooperation from their side. They have told us that they will keep us informed about the developments in the search operation.”
The last contact Pranav made with the family was with his maternal cousin Prithviraj, a day prior to his being reported missing. Pranav had completed a degree in Nautical Sciences from MANET (Maharashtra Academy of Naval Education and Training) of the MIT Group in 2022. He was selected during campus interview but had joined the company six months ago.
Calls made on Monday to the contact numbers of the Wilhelmsen Ship Management (India) Pvt Ltd available on the website and also to some numbers of the company officials provided by the family went unanswered.
