50-year-old Kolkata mariner goes missing from ship on high seas

KOLKATA: A 50-year-old mariner from Kolkata was reported missing from a crude oil tanker on its way from Singapore to a port in South Korea. His family, living in Bansdroni in south Kolkata, was informed of the incident on Thursday evening.
Sambit Majumder, a mariner with nearly 25 years of experience and second engineer on Liberian-flag vessel MT Serengeti, left home on February 4.Dynacom Tankers Management (DTM) officials said all was well till Tuesday evening and Sambit had dinner with other members of the crew around 8pm before retiring to his cabin.

The ship, MT Serengeti, from which Sambit Majumder went missing
Crew members said they saw Sambit in his cabin even after that but he did not turn up for breakfast on Wednesday. An alert was sounded a little later when he did not turn up in the engine room at 10am. Sambit’s phone was found in his cabin but there was no trace of him on board the ship. Online trackers indicate that the MT Serengeti also went around to search for the mariner in the South China Sea but he could not be traced.
Sambit’s wife, Jayati, expressed unhappiness over the way in which the shipping firm’s officials reacted to the situation but DTM spokespersons refuted allegations of slackness. “They informed me over phone only on Thursday afternoon. I have sought a written statement but nothing has been sent. I also wanted someone from the ship to speak to me (over satellite phone) to tell me what exactly happened. But this has not been done,” Jayati said.
A DTM official, however, said all measures were being taken to trace Sambit and Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres in Hong Kong and the Philippines had been alerted. No time was lost in alerting the MRCC and carrying out a search, he said, adding: “The search is still on and we have not given up hope. All procedures are being followed. We are in touch with the family.”
Jayati said her husband was happy that Covid-19 restrictions were being lifted and he would be home soon. “His four-month contract was over but he was still working as there were restrictions on returning home,” she said. “He called me up when the ship was sailing from Singapore to South Korea and sounded upbeat. He has lots of experience and spending just over four months on a ship will never wear him down. Something is just not right though I have been told that rescue helicopters are searching for him,” Jayati added.
“He also did not sound like he was under any stress when he last spoke to me on Saturday. The company needs to answer what could have happened if we discard the depression and personal animosity theories. He has an 82-year-old mother at home and a son who has just written his ICSE exam,” she said.