Ex-Navy Sailor From Odisha Seeks Centre’s Help To Rescue His Son Stuck In ‘Arrested’ Ship In Yemen For 4 Months

Bhubaneswar: A retired Indian Navy sailor from Odisha has urged the Union government to take immediate steps to rescue his son stuck in an ‘arrested’ ship in the Red Sea near Ras Isa in Yemen for the last four months.

In a statement, Bidyadhar Nayak said he has already approached the authorities concerned to take steps to rescue his son, Sarthak Nayak on board the Akoya Gas ship, and arrange his return to India.

The Ministry of Shipping and Waterways has requested the Ministry of External Affairs to ask the Indian Embassy in Yemen for consular access and meet the Indian sailor Second Officer Sarthak Nayak on board the Akoya Gas ship and arrange his return to India, he said.

He said LPG ship named Akoya Gas left Djibouti port in Africa for Ras Isa on February 29 and arrived there on March 1. As there was no pipeline system for gas discharge at that port in Yemen, it took about a month to unload the small tanks from a huge ship onto lorries.

After that, the ship was supposed to return to its destination, but it was refused by the loading master of Ras Isa, and some groups of Yemeni people forcibly stopped the ship. Anchored in the sea, the ship has been lying in one place for 4 months and gun-wielding Yemeni police are on board. Passports and CDCs of all the sailors have been seized and there have been many accidents inside the ship in the last four months, he said.

Stating that most of the sailors are losing their mental composure, Nayak said his son is the lone Indian sailor in the ship, while there are 18 from Pakistan, 3 from Ukraine, 2 from Sri Lanka, and 1 from Latvia.

Noting that a case has been filed against the ship in the Yemeni court and 5 million dollars have been demanded, he said the owner of the ship was ready to pay 5 million dollars to free the ship, while the court itself does not know who will be given so much money in a “country without a government!” Now many claimants have come to claim that money.

“In such a situation, the Ministry of External Affairs is the only hope to rescue the Indian seaman Sarthak Nayak from such a terrible situation,” said Nayak.

He said he has repeatedly appealed to all ministries and officials concerned through X account and e-mail and written to MP Baijayant Panda.

“Irrespective of the circumstances, the Indian government has always extended its helping hand and rescued its citizens from foreign soil during various calamities. Similarly, request to rescue the only Indian seafarer, second officer Sarthak Nayak,” he added.