Sailor tells of rescue from sinking boat off Sharjah
Relatives of a drowned Indian sailor have yet to be told. Two others drowned and two are still missing off Al Hamriya
SHARJAH // Nootan Singh was one of the sailors rescued from a petroleum carrier that sank off the coast of Al Hamriya last week after heavy weather dragged it towards a breakwater.
The ship carried an Indian crew of 12, three of whom drowned and two still missing at sea.
Two were rescued by coastguards and five were helped off the vessel.
“The weather was really bad. The wind was so strong that it started to drag the ship,” said Mr Singh, 20.
A nearby ship tried to help the distressed vessel by lashing the two together.
“I was in charge of taking the ropes to other ship, which I did,” said Mr Singh, who has been a sailor for a year. “However, the wind was too strong and the rope broke. The ship went towards Al Hamriya beach.
“There were horrific conditions, the ship was moving at 3 knots and the waves were really strong.”
He made it to safety onboard the other ship, which docked at a Sharjah anchorage.
“Sharjah Police rescued the crew on board the boat and took them to safety,” said Mr Singh.
Meanwhile, the family of a man who drowned has not yet been told about his death.
Relatives said they were waiting for the body of Amit Yadav, 23, to be repatriated before his parents and teenage sister were informed.
“If they find out he is dead, they will go mad with grief,” said Vivek Yadav, a cousin from Mau in Uttar Pradesh. “We have told them he is in a coma in the hospital.
“Already his parents are worried and his sister became disturbed when they heard the news about the ship sinking.”
The dead sailor’s father is a farmer and the family lives in Phulpur village. This was Yadav’s second voyage since he began working about 10 months ago.
“The family is poor. All hopes rested on him,” Mr Yadav said. “They had taken loans from relatives so that he could go abroad for work. They thought that once he started working they
Five vessels have run aground on the coasts of Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain this month
would slowly repay the money.
“Everyone is worried that they will get too much of a shock when they find out he is dead. We have to break the news to them slowly. We couldn’t tell them immediately that he had died.”
Mr Yadav said he had learnt about his cousin’sdeath from survivors. Copies of his cousin’s passport were sent to Sharjah several days ago as requested by authorities. “We are hoping the body is brought here soon so they know the truth,” Mr Yadav said. “Amit was supposed to come home for Holi next month and instead this tragedy happened.”
Five vessels ran aground on the coasts of Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain this month. On Sunday, work began to refloat an empty cargo ship at Al Hamriya beach.