Pune man working on merchant ship goes 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 in a campus interview, but joined the company six months ago. The delay was due to issues with his passport. After joining, he first went to the US briefly and was deployed as a deck cadet on the Resolve II vessel, which is a gas tanker for the last six months. On Friday night we got a call and Saturday morning, we received an email from the company authorities saying Pranav was missing from the ship when it was between Singapore and Indonesia,” Gopal said. Information about the Resolve II available on the internet suggests that it is a chemical and oil products tanker sailing under the Singapore flag.

Pranav’s mother Savita is a home maker and his younger sister is in Class 10.

“We had many calls with him over the last few days on WhatsApp audio and video. His last contact with the family was with his cousin Prithviraj. The company told us nothing about how he went missing, nor his last known activity on the ship, nor has it given any contacts of others that had been serving with him. They have told us that the vessel has moved ahead on its course and the search by ship has been stopped. However, searches by other authorities and fishing vessels in the area continue. We don’t know what this means. We have approached Pune Police, we are approaching Mumbai police and Ministries of External Affairs and also that of Shipping,” Gopal added.

“I had sent him a casual message about the cricket match on Wednesday night. On Thursday morning he saw the message during his breakfast break and replied to it. At this time he was called for work. His number showed that he was last online at 8.59 am on Friday. We do not know what happened to him after that,” Prithviraj told The Indian Express.

“He always said he wanted to become a captain of a ship. All recent conversations with him had been pleasant ones. He was helping out the family financially. Just a few days ago he sent Rs 40,000 for his sister’s coaching class fees and Rs one lakh to repay someone we owed money to. My son has made the family proud. Ask anyone in his college, they will say that he was a talented student who was always in the top of his class. Even on the ship, the company officials told us that he has had very cordial relations with everyone. But we are now fearing the worst. We want answers about where my son is,” said Pranav’s mother Savita.

Pranav’s uncle, Atmaram Mundhe said, “Pranav has seen his father get up at 2-3 am and return late at night to earn and save money for a better future for the family. The three year course was an expensive affair and the fees for it totalled Rs 17 lakh. His father had put in his hard earned money and also borrowed money from family and friends, which he was now repaying with Pranav’s help. The boy’s ambition was to have a better future for his family.”

Calls made to the phone numbers of the Wilhelmsen Ship Management (India) Pvt Ltd on the website and also to some numbers of the company officials provided by the family, went unanswered.