Kerala - Kochi   

Missing sailors’ kin suspect foul play

KOCHI: Though the Turkish authorities have reported finding certain materials from the missing ship m.v. Rezzak, the people of Minicoy still refuse to believe that the vessel has been shipwrecked or 25 crewmen on board, who included 10 from the island, are dead.

They suspect some foul play in the disappearance of the ship, which had left a Russian port on February 17 for Turkey and vanished in the Black Sea on February 18. They believe that the crewmen, all Indians, are being held by those who intend to make money using the ship.

The relatives of the missing seamen base their reasoning on the fact that the things recovered by the Turkish Coast Guard do not include any of the personal effects of any of the crewmen. They also point out that though the ship had vanished nearly a fortnight ago, not a single body had been found.

The Directorate-General, Shipping, Mumbai, on Saturday said that the Turkish Coast Guard had, during their renewed search and rescue operations, found from the sea east of Inebolu and west of Snop the following things: one punctured life-raft, five life jackets, synthetic tarpaulins, some industrial-type gas cylinders, a sea survival kit, a sea suit, five lifebuoys and two life boats. They had also found a 20-metre wide oil slick on the sea where the life-raft had been found.

Rezzak was scheduled to call at the port of Bartin on February 18. The Lakshadweep administration has deputed its Deputy Director, Shipping and Transportation, T.P. Sheik Koya, and the vice-chairperson of village (Dweep) panchayat of Minicoy, B. Hassan, to Mumbai to liaise with the DG, Shipping and to keep track of the developments.

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