Ashwin Kumar Hari, a trainee electrical officer, boarded MV Shahrastani on March 6.
A 24-year-old Indian sailor has been reported missing from a ship in the waters near Mauritius since Sunday. The Kerala-based family of Ashwin Kumar Hari has written to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj seeking the government's help in locating him.
Ashwin Kumar Hari went missing from MV Shahrastani, an LPG vessel managed by a Hong Kong-based firm.
Ashwin, a trainee electrical officer, set sailing on MV Shahrastani on March 6. His family, based in Kochi, said Anglo-Eastern Ship Management has informed them that they are calling off the search and rescue operations and that the ship is sailing towards the US.
In his letter to Sushma Swaraj, Ashwin Kumar Hari's father said his son's employer mentioned that the crew of the ship last saw him at 8 pm on March 29, going to the engine control room of the vessel. "MV Saharastani is an 'Unmanned Machinery Space', which means after the day operation, the engine room would be unmanned and in wheelhouse control, until and unless some emergency occurs... We are suspecting a foul play about the missing case of our son and the date and time mentioned in letter," IKS Harikumar said in his letter.
The family had last spoken to their son on the night of March 28, close to 24 hours before he went missing. The father has appealed for an investigation and recovery of the report that has all the data of MV Saharastani.
Anglo Eastern Ship Management refused to give out details saying, "We are in regular touch with the family and since the case in under investigation, all details are being given to DG Shipping," a statement said.
In February this year,
twenty two Indians on board a ship managed by the same company that employs Ashwin, went missing in the waters in West Africa last week. They were freed by pirates a week later.