The grief-stricken family of an Indian sailor declared missing after an attack on a container ship off Oman have spoken of their agony.
Herambh Karmarkar was declared missing on Sunday after an Iranian strike on commercial vessel GFS Galaxy, which was bound for Dubai and had apparently crossed the Strait of Hormuz.
After the strike sparked a fire in the engine room, the anchor was dropped and the crew was forced to abandon ship. Ten Indian sailors were later rescued from a lifeboat by the Omani Navy but engineer Mr Karmarkar was not among them.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry has condemned the attack and described the latest strikes on commercial shipping in the region as “deeply worrisome”.
The sailor’s family in the western Indian city of Pune, meanwhile, said no one should have to go through what they have endured, and called for stronger safety measures for seafarers.
“It has been three days of trauma,” Vevek Tandon, Mr Karmarkar’s father-in-law, told The National. “Only a parent will understand what this feels like, only a person who has lost someone they love dearly will know what we are going through.
“It was a five-month contract for Herambh on this ship, and he had planned to sign off in Dubai this week and come back to Pune.”
Safely crossed Strait
The family last heard from Mr Karmarkar on the morning of the Iranian attack. “Crossed the strait … safely,” was the last message he sent his wife at 2.49am on July 12.
“After this, we have no news, there are no more messages from him,” Mr Tandon said. “His last message was from the engine room. We also know he was last seen in the engine room by another crew member who was rescued.”
Mr Karmarkar, who had marine engineering degree earned at the City of Glasgow College, has a wife, sister and mother. “He was planning to complete another course in Glasgow and had decided to go there soon with his wife,” Mr Tandon said.
“He is the most helpful person, always ready to come forward to assist anyone. There must be better safety, better security, for seamen. I keep thinking of the heat in the ship because of the fire. These strikes, these missile attacks, should not happen, these are young sailors doing their work.”
Rashika, Mr Karmarkar’s wife, appealed for help. “My husband deserves every chance to be brought home,” she said in a message on X. “We are begging for help.”
More attacks
Abhijeet Sangle, working president of the All India Seafarer General Worker Union, said sailors deserved more protection.
“These sailors are doing their work, they are doing a job that is necessary and they are being hit,” he said. “Many seafarers do not want to go near the Strait [of Hormuz]. Before they sign up, they ask if the voyage will take them near the strait. We have emergency lines they can call for help.”
In the most recent strikes, Iran hit two UAE supertankers – Mombasa and Al Bahiyah – in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, killing one Indian sailor and injuring eight others, four seriously.
The tankers were carrying 30 Indian seafarers as part of a crew of 46.
India has an estimated seafarer workforce exceeding 300,000, one of the world's largest.
There have been 17 seafarer deaths in 56 attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East since the war began on February 28, according to the latest update from the UN International Maritime Organisation on Tuesday.
“We strongly condemn these attacks, and acts of violence targeting seafarers and disrupting free and safe navigation through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz,” the Indian government said.
“We also reiterate our deep concern on account of the resumption of attacks and escalation of hostilities in the West Asian region, and call for immediate cessation of violence and a return to dialogue and diplomacy in the interest of peace, security and stability in the region.”
