No Inquiry into Missing Seafarer

A Liberian-registered vessel has been allowed to sail on from India’s Chennai Port without an inquiry into the circumstances of the death of one of its seafarers.

An Indian seafarer, Radhakrishnan T K, went missing from the tanker MT Kingfisher around 4.20 am on July 28, and his body was located at nearby Royapuram the same evening. An information report was filed by the police the next day, but the crew of the ship were not questioned.

The Chennai Port authority and the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) said they were not informed about the death when the ship departed from Chennai Port on July 30, reports the New Indian Express.

The incident is a blatant violation of Section 358, said Manoj Joy, Chaplain at Sailors’ Society in India. 

The New Indian Express reports that the vessel’s recruiting agent, Captain Jairam of Seaarland Management Services, Mumbai, claims to have informed the relevant authorities in Mumbai (not Chennai).

Joy says: “The ship was docked right in front of the MMD office, yet the agent did not inform MMD.” 

International Transport Workers Federation inspector K Sreekumar has taken up the issue with the shipping company and MMD.