Ranchi merchant navy captain stranded on vessel in Persian Gulf dies of heart attack

RANCHI: Stuck at the Persian Gulf for 20 days after Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, Rakesh Ranjan Singh, an Indian merchant navy captain tasked with steering an oil tanker out of the strait, died on March 18, after suffering a heart attack in the vessel, his family said on Friday.

Singh, 47, was on board Panama-flagged ‘ASP Avana', when he fell off his chair at the captain's deck, holding his chest in pain. Medics on board checked on him and said he needed immediate attention in a hospital but with the USA-Israel's war raging with Iran, there was no immediate help possible, his family claimed.

"We were informed by his employer, Elegant Marine Services Private Limited, that they tried to evacuate him from the vessel to provide medical care. But the ongoing tension caused a delay of several hours, and when they finally moved him to a hospital in Port Rashid, UAE, doctors declared him dead on arrival," family friend and naval officer captain Sanjeev Kumar told TOI.

On Feb 28, the vessel loaded with crude oil from Saudi Arabia had to drop anchor due to movement restrictions near Port Rashid and got stranded about 100 nautical miles from the entrance of Strait of Hormuz, It was awaiting further instructions from the company.

"It's a normal practice to set sail and get the destination details after sometime from the company," said captain Sanjeev Kumar.

Sunil Puri, spokesperson for the company told TOI: "For operations and security reasons, we cannot disclose the location where the cargo was headed for."

Puri also said all possible attention was provided by on-board staff and shore medical personnel from Port Rashid.

The escalating geopolitical tension in West Asia cast a shadow of grief in Rakesh Ranjan's home in Ranchi, as the news of his death reached them.

His family got a call from the company on March 18 evening that Rakesh Ranjan had lost consciousness. The family panicked as he sounded fine when he spoke to them in the morning.

Shattered and in disbelief, his wife, Ranju and their two children — Pravar, 20, pursuing engineering in Bengaluru and Om, 16, were sobbing in their Argora area apartment in Ranchi.

Singh's family originally hails from Bihar Sharif in the Nalanda district of Bihar. His last rites are expected to be held in Bihar after Indian authorities secure his body back to the country.

Before flying to Dubai on Feb 2 to join the vessel, Singh spent around five months on vacation with his family in India. Rakesh was employed as a merchant navy officer for the past 26 years.

"I am still in disbelief that he is not with us. He had no medical history either, so how he could suddenly leave us is still a mystery for us. Every time the navy officers go sailing, they undergo necessary medical tests, and Rakesh is physically fit. We are waiting for the post-mortem report to arrive so that we can know the reason for his death," Rakesh's elder brother, Umesh Kumar, said.

The grief-stricken family members have appealed to the Jharkhand govt and the Centre to speed up bringing his body back to India as early as possible.

"It has already been 48 hours since he died. We are informed that due to Eid holidays, the process is getting delayed, so we request the authorities to expedite the process and ensure that his family receives all benefits from his employer to support them as he was the sole bread earner of the family," Umesh added.