Ship sinks off Odisha
Bangladeshi sailor Mamun goes missing after joining ship following promotion
Picture: Abdullah Al Mamun
Three months ago, Abdullah Al Mamun was promoted and began working as a fourth engineer aboard the foreign flagged vessel Ocean Winner. A native of Satkhira Sadar upazila in Bangladesh, he began his career as a sailor in 2014 after earning a degree from a private marine academy. This was his fifth ship. After receiving news of his promotion, he performed Umrah. He then joined the vessel.
Last Saturday, Ocean Winner was sailing to Singapore from the Paraban Port in Odisha, India. The ship sank at sea midway through the journey. There were 24 sailors aboard. Twenty were from China. Two were from Myanmar. Mamun was the only Bangladeshi.
A nearby commercial vessel named MT Isops rescued two sailors alive with the help of a life raft at the accident site. The Indian Coast Guard later took them for medical treatment. The others remain missing.
Indian media outlet India Today reported that the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy are conducting a joint search for the missing sailors. A surveillance aircraft operated by the Navy and three Coast Guard vessels named Varad, Anmol and Vijit have been deployed in the operation. Rough seas are making the search operation somewhat difficult.
A Satkhira correspondent reported that Mamun’s home is in the Amtala area of North Katiya in Satkhira city.
Mamun’s family has been overwhelmed with grief after losing contact with him. He has a wife, an eight-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son in Bangladesh. He is the sole earning member of the family. Both of his parents are alive but are suffering from serious health problems.
Ocean Winner is a Panama flagged vessel. However, it is being operated on charter by China’s Ocean Winner Shipping Company Limited. The ship is 28 years old. Mamun had worked aboard the vessel several times before.
The agency responsible for supplying Bangladeshi sailors to the company is NTN Oceanic Pledge Limited. Mamun himself is a director of the company. His childhood friend Sadat Al Kabiju is its chief. The two have been close friends for many years. They studied together from third grade through their marine academy degrees.
Sadat said, “We used to talk every day through messages and calls. I last spoke to Mamun on Friday. When I did not receive a message from him on Saturday, I tracked the ship and found that there was no contact. I then informed the ship operator. In the meantime, the news came that the ship had sunk.”
According to Sadat, “Before he was promoted to fourth engineer, I was the one who encouraged him to join this ship. I regret those words even more now.”
“We spent the worst times of our lives together. We both cried together in front of the Kaaba. Allah, please bring Mamun back,” he said as he broke down in tears.
Mamun’s elder brother Abdullah Al Baki said, “Both my father and mother are getting old. My mother already has a heart problem. She has been crying uncontrollably after hearing this news. His wife keeps fainting. I am following the pages of the Indian Navy and Coast Guard. We still do not have the latest news about whether Mamun is alive!”
Captain Anam Chowdhury, president of the Bangladesh Merchant Mariner Officers Association, said, “We are also maintaining communication with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the Indian authorities and his Chinese employer to locate Abdullah Al Mamun.”
