A 22-year-old merchant navy cadet from Dehradun, Karandeep Singh Rana, has gone missing while on duty aboard an oil tanker sailing off the coast of Sri Lanka, his family said on Saturday.
According to his father, Narendra Singh Rana, Karandeep disappeared on September 20 when the vessel was sailing from Iraq to China via Sri Lanka. The family is now appealing to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the central government for urgent intervention in locating him.
Narendra, a resident of the Patel Nagar area in Dehradun, told news agency PTI that Karandeep had left India on August 18 for Singapore, where he boarded the tanker heading to Iraq.
From Iraq, they began their sail to China via Sri Lanka, he said.
Narendra said they received a call from
the Mumbai office of the Executive Ship Management (ESM) company at around 9:30 pm on September 20, regarding Karandeep’s disappearance.
“At around 9:30 pm (on September 20), the Mumbai office of the Executive Ship Management (ESM) company informed them that Karandeep had gone missing from the ship and was not found despite extensive searches. We were shocked to hear this because we had spoken to him that afternoon and he was perfectly fine,” he told PTI.
Despite multiple attempts to seek clarification, the company officials told the family that Karandeep had gone alone to the deck and had been missing since then.
Narendra, who is employed in a private firm, said the family has been continuously reaching out to authorities in a desperate bid to trace their son.
He said that the family has appealed for help on the Chief Minister’s Portal, to state government officials and even to the Ministry of External Affairs. He also met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Saturday and requested his personal involvement in the matter.
Narendra said Karandeep had always wanted to join the Merchant Navy, and he was due to become a Third Officer.
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