Kin of Indian sailors who died last week in UAE still await mortal remains

Manjeet Yadav holds up a picture of his cousin Amit Yadav who died after a 13ft wave hit his ship PicsSuresh KarkeraEver since six Indian sailors lost their lives in the high seas near the United Arab Emirates UAE their families too have been all at sea unable to deal with the shock Take the Yadav family in Rabale who lost their son Amit 21 but are yet to receive his body or information about what exactly happenedManjeet Yadav left cousin of deceased sailor Amit Yadav and trade union leader Manoj Yadav are trying to bring the seamanrsquos body homeThe six seamen were working on two different ships both of which capsized in a freak mishap near the Port of Sharjah All that the families have been told is that the incident was caused by a monster wave towering at about 13 feet when it crashed into the two offshore vessels Alhamra and MT Capricorn Star Both were supply ships that were heading towards the high seas to deliver supplies for a heavy vessel docked five to six nautical miles away from the Sharjah portThe authorities have fished out the bodies of three sailors from Alhamra and three more bodies of Capricorn Star sailors Two more from Alhamra are still missing Devastated as they are by the news the sailorsrsquo kin are equally distressed by the utter lack of information about what happenedAnxious for newsAmong the three who were killed on Alhamra is Amit Yadav His cousin Manjeet Yadav told midday ldquoAlthough the mishap took place on February 3 we were informed about Amitrsquos death after two days I am looking for his body and for more information but have not found anything yetrdquo21yearold Amit had started his job as an oiler on the ship just last January He was the sole earning member of his family keeping them afloat with a measly salary of 1400 Dirhams approximately Rs 25500His father Satyanand Yadav told this reporter ldquoHe was my only son He went to Dubai in January 2016 but faced many problems there The last payment he had received from them was in October after which he did not get any money He was in great tension and wanted to sign off from the shiprdquoSatyanand added that Amit had been recruited in Mumbai but wasnrsquot sure who the recruiter wasIllegal recruitmentPreliminary inquiries have revealed that the placement agency that recruited the sailors was not registered with DG Shipping Manoj Yadav secretary of Forward Seamenrsquos Union of India said ldquoThe company that had recruited the victims didnrsquot have the mandatory registration and placement service license RPSL to hire sailors Despite not having the licence the company is still recruitingrdquoNot only does this mean that the recruitment was illegal but it also explains why there is such a large gap in information available with the authorities who have no record of these dealings While Alhamra was registered with Ocean Blue Shipping Management Company Indian officials are still not sure who owns MT Capricorn StarA senior DG Shipping officer explained ldquoWithout RPSL recruitment is illegal as this does not come under the merchant shipping law due to which we are unable to take any action against them In such cases the victimsrsquo families can approach the police who have the authority to take action under the Indian Penal CoderdquoHe added ldquoWe regularly send emails to around 2 lakh seamen and agents warning that recruitment should only happen through RPSL agents but many of them still opt for unlicensed agents and risk their livesrdquo