New Delhi: The family of Ram Chandra Dubey (22), a seafarer from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, have sought assistance from the Indian government to trace him.
He is one of the two Indians missing after the merchant vessel MV AGN Ragnar came under attack near Ukraine’s Port of Odesa on July 25.
There were four Indians in the ship’s crew. All of them reportedly jumped into the Black Sea after the attack. While two were rescued by the Ukrainian Navy, Dubey and another mariner could not be traced.
His family said that this was his second assignment at sea since joining the merchant navy.
The last time the family met him was on September 25, 2025, Dubey’s elder sister, Seemakashi Pandey said.
“He would call home frequently to check on everyone. The last time he spoke to our mother, Kalpana Dubey, was on the night of July 24. He told her the ship had departed from Ukraine,” she said, as reported by The Indian Express.
The family received a phone call from an employee of the shipping company that had employed Dubey the next day.
“The company representative said the vessel had come under a drone attack near the Port of Odessa on July 25 and four Indian crew members jumped into the Black Sea — one of them was my brother,” Seemakashi said.
“We were told the Ukrainian Navy rescued two of them, but two others, including my brother, remain missing,” she said.
The family has looked everywhere for help since then.
“At first, we tried to gather information sitting in Prayagraj but we realised we had no way of tracing him from here,” his brother-in-law, Anuj Kumar Pandey said.
Ram’s elder brother, Krishna Das Dubey, accompanied by two cousins, travelled to Delhi on July 27.
“We met officials of the shipping company, who told us they were making efforts to locate the missing crew members, but we have not received a concrete update,” Pandey said.
Dubey hails from Nivi Kala village and is the younger of two sons. His father, Ramesh Chandra Dubey, is a retired Armyman.
The family has submitted urgent representations to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs, seeking diplomatic intervention to help trace him, Seemakashi said.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said on Tuesday that India was coordinating with Ukrainian authorities in the search for the two missing Indian crew members and remained in touch with their families.
“Embassy of India in Ukraine is closely monitoring the situation following the incident involving MV AGN Ragnar, which was struck at the Port of Odesa on July 25. Four Indian nationals were on board the vessel. As per the latest information, two have been confirmed safe, and information is awaited regarding the other two nationals,” the Indian Embassy in Kyiv had said on Sunday.
Four Indian seamen were killed in a similar strike of Odesa on July 19. India had summoned the Russian charge-de-affairs in New Delhi to express condemnation.
