Deck Cadet Goes Missing From Ship, Complained Of Harassment From Senior Officer

After an unsuccessful rescue operation for four days in search of deck cadet Dhananjay Arora who went missing under suspicious circumstances on the evening of September 13, 2020, about 500 miles away from Mauritius coast was called off.

Cadet Dhananjay Arora was sailing on Hong Kong-based MT New Horizon crude oil tanker, managed by Fleet Management Limited which was headed to Ningbo in China. The ship took off on November 22, 2019, and was supposed to return to India in August but got postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. 

An investigation is being conducted by the Hong Kong Government in association with Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mauritius and DG shipping which is associated with the Government of India. 

The family members of Dhananjay suspect foul play in their son’s missing case. The family has reached Ministry of External Affairs, India and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, to help them search for their son. Dhananjay’s father, Virender Kumar Arora said that “no assuring response from the shipping company till now. With every passing minute, the risk to my son’s life is increasing.”

Image for representation purpose

The crew members started searching for the 20-year-old cadet when they noticed that he was not present for dinner. The search began around 9 pm, cadet Dhananjay Arora was last seen around 5 pm on the deck. On the midnight of September 14, 2020, the family members were informed that their son was missing from the ship.

Cadet Dhananjay Arora went missing after sending images of senior commanding officer sleeping on duty to his family members. 

Dhananjay had informed his family members that he was being harassed by the senior officer. He was also planning to take legal action against the senior commanding officer once he returned home. 

The captain of the ship acknowledges that Dhananjay was indeed being harassed by his senior officer.

The family members alleged that they are not able to get in touch with the company, and they have only received phone calls from the captain of the ship, and couldn’t talk to ship’s other crew members.

Family members have started an online campaign on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. The campaign for help has used hashtags like #RescueDhananjay #FindDhananjay and #DhananjayAroramissing. In all these tweets and posts family and friends have tagged Ministry of External Affairs and Union Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Reference: Indian express/ Times now

Source: Maritime Shipping News