6 months after Somali pirates hijacked ship, family still waiting for sailor

By Hemant Kumar Rout

Sudhanshu Pandey, 26, a resident of Jaleswar station bazaar in Orissa's Balasore district was one of the 22 crew members aboard the 13,000-tonne chemical tanker Marida Marguerite which was hijacked by Somali pirates on May 8. Six months later, his family is still waiting for the government to take some action for his safe release.

The cargo vessel, which was sailing under Marshall Islands flag, was captured 120 nautical miles south of Salalah in Oman. The crew comprised 19 Indians, 2 Bangladeshis and 1 Ukrainian.

"The last time he spoke with us was on May 7, the day he left. Since then there has been no news of him. We pass every minute with anxiety and expectations. I have personally met the ship management twice in Mumbai and urged them to expedite the release process but unfortunately the government is doing nothing about it," said Sudhanshu's brother Shanti Bhusan Pandey.

The Pandey family has blamed the officials of OMCI Ship management and both the Centre and the state governments for the delay in the release process.

"Every time we ask the ship management authorities they assure us that they are doing the needful for their release. Last week when I, along with the relatives of other hijacked sailors, met them at Mumbai they said the hijackers have hiked their ransom and they were trying to meet their demands. But we think the management is planning to get the ship released with a minimum cost. They are really not concerned about the hostages," he alleged.

Read more...

Posted via email from