Plea to help trace missing ship crew

CHENNAI: A writ petition has been filed in the Madras High Court for a direction to the authorities concerned to trace a crew member of a Maldivian ship, which allegedly sank off the coast of Oman on June 26 last.
Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar, before whom the petition from Sridhar Mani of Royapuram came up for hearing on Monday, adjourned the matter by a week. According to Mani, his son Sridhar Sahayaraj joined the ship as a crew member in December last year. While transporting rice from Karachi to Barbera Port in Somalia, the ship sank off the coast of Oman on June 26 last. However, four crew members, three Indians and one Somalian, were rescued. Three more, including the petitioner's son, were still missing. The petitioner came to know about that after 20 days.Mani contended that it was the duty of the recruiting agent Venus of Craspir Cargo Care, Thoothukudi to inform the Director General of Shipping in Mumbai and the families of the victims about the incident within 24 hours. The whereabouts of petitioner's son was not known till date.