CKUA

scrapped

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beached

beached at Alang 12/2013

sold to breakers

sold to Gadani breakers

Family of tug captain suspects foul play regarding missing person case

One month after the new captain boarded the "Skua" at the port of Luderitz and then vanished, the man from Bhavnagar is still missing. Two investigations, conducted by the shipping company and Namibian police, simply declared him missing, though his family members insisted they wanted to know how he went missing from the docked ship. According to a report sent by the Dubai-based company, Jampur International FZE, to India's external affairs ministry Gohil boarded the vessel which was docked four nautical miles from the port at 10 p.m. on Feb 12, 2013, met the port pilot and then proceeded to inspect the vessel. At 1 a.m., the port control asked the vessel to set sail, but Gohil informed they intended to set off only in the morning due to poor visibility. The vessel, which had come from Brazil and docked two days before Gohil joined, was bound for Mauritius. Gohil was last seen at 5 a.m. on Feb 13. At 6 a.m., when the vessel was ready to sail, he was reported missing. Gohil's family members said he was not new to the profession. He had worked for 14 years and worked in various shipping companies in Dubai, Singapore, South Africa, and Nigeria. Circumstances under which he went missing suggest something went wrong with him, family members were placing the blame to the company which they said was not forthright in cooperating with them or with Namibian or Indian authorities. Company officials said he might have fallen into the sea, in which case it is hard to survive because the sea there is shark-infested. The ship left on Feb 24. Gohil might also have committed suicide by jumping off the ship, though his family members said there was no apparent reason to indicate he might have committed suicide. A report, prepared by the Namibian police, said he was last sighted smoking heavily in his cabin. He was a forthright person who could not have accepted anything wrong. Officials of external affairs ministry said they contacted India's high commission in Namibia and sent their officials to the site from where Gohil went missing, to prepare a report. The company to which the ship belongs has not been encouraging any further investigation into the matter. The company was initially reluctant in sharing any information.