NEW DELHI: At 9 am on July 5, while mourning the death of a relative in Haryana’s Jui village, Mandeep Duddi received an email, followed by a phone call, informing him that his 20-year-old son, Deepak, a seaman, went missing from a Portuguese-flagged vessel off the coast of Ukraine three days earlier.Since then, Mandeep and his family have been trying to obtain details about Deepak’s disappearance. They have remained in touch with the company through which he joined the vessel and have approached an MP, seeking information about the circumstances under which the young merchant navy sailor went missing.Deepak’s cousin, Birender, a Delhi Police constable, told TOI that since receiving the email from the Turkish company that owns the ship, “we have been reaching out to it, seeking details about Deepak, but have not received any concrete information,” he said.According to the email, Deepak was believed to have fallen overboard at 5.15 pm on July 2 while the vessel was off the coast of Odesa. A crew member noticed his absence shortly after he was last seen on duty, following which an extensive search of the vessel was carried out, the company said.The ship’s captain immediately declared a “man overboard” emergency, sounded the general alarm and initiated search procedures. Ukrainian maritime authorities were alerted, and search and rescue operations were launched with the help of nearby rescue boats. However, despite hours of coordinated efforts, there was no trace of Deepak, and the search was suspended after nightfall because of poor visibility, according to the email.Deepak last spoke to his family over a video call at 3.30 pm on July 2. He told them everything was fine.His uncle, Ram Niwas Duddi, said the 20-year-old was working in the merchant navy for nine and a half months and joined the current job on March 20 under a nine-month contract. He used to regularly send money home. “He was the family’s main breadwinner and had big dreams. He was to return to our village, Jhanjhra Bass, in Haryana, this Dec,” he said, adding, “We hope the authorities will help us find out what happened to him.”The family met Bhiwani-Mahendragarh MP Dharambir Singh and submitted a representation along with a copy of the shipping company’s email. The MP wrote a letter to the Indian foreign ministry, highlighting the case. The letter stated that despite the passage of time, the family has not received any satisfactory explanation about the circumstances of the incident.The MP urged the ministry to coordinate with the Indian embassy in Ukraine and foreign authorities for initiating intensive search efforts, seek an independent inquiry, preserve onboard evidence, including CCTV footage, voyage records and crew statements, and keep the family informed about the progress of the investigation.Deepak’s brother, accompanied by a relative, has travelled to Mumbai to seek information about him from officials of the company through which he joined the vessel.
