SHARJAH // Indian Nootan Singh was one of the sailors rescued from a petroleum carrier that sank off the coast of Al Hamriya last week after heavy weather dragged it towards a breakwater.
The ship carried an Indian crew of 12, three of whom drowned. Two are still missing at sea, two were rescued by coastguards, and five were helped off the vessel.
“The weather was really bad. The wind was so strong that it started to drag the ship,” said the 20-year-old sailor.
A nearby ship tried to help the vessel in distress with a lash-up that kept them together.
“I was in charge of taking the ropes to other ship, which I did. However, the wind was too strong and the rope broke. The ship went towards Al Hamriya beach,” said Mr Singh, who has been a sailor for a year.
“There were horrific conditions, the ship was moving at three knots, and the waves were really strong,” he said.
Mr Singh made it safety to the other ship, which docked in Sharjah.
“Sharjah police rescued the crew on board the boat and took them to safety,” said Mr Singh.
He is working with his company to return to India.
Meanwhile, the immediate family of Amit Yadav, one of the men who drowned, has not yet been told about his death.
Relatives said they were waiting for Mr Yadav’s body to be repatriated before his parents and teenage sister are informed.
“If they find out he is dead, they will go mad (with grief). We have told them he is in a coma in the hospital. Already his parents are too worried and his sister is disturbed when they heard the news about the ship sinking,” said Vivek Yadav, a cousin from Mau in Uttar Pradesh.
The deceased sailor’s father is a farmer and the family live in nearby Phulpur village. This was 23-year-old Yadav’s second voyage since he began working about 10 months ago.
“The family is poor. All hopes rested on him,” said Mr Yadav. “They had taken loans from relatives so that he could go abroad for work. They thought that once he started working, they would slowly repay the money.
“Everyone is worried that they will get too much of a shock when they find out he is dead. We have to break the news to them slowly, we couldn’t tell them immediately that he had died.”
Mr Yadav said they learnt about his death from survivors. Copies of Amit Yadav’s passport were sent to Sharjah several days ago as asked by authorities, he said.
“We are hoping the body is brought here soon so they know the truth,” Mr Yadav said.
“Amit was supposed to come home for Holi (festival) next month and instead this tragedy happened.”
Five vessels were washed up on the coasts of Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain earlier this month. On Sunday, work began to refloat an empty cargo ship at Al Hamriya beach.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
