Somalilandsun: A 24-year-old Telugu sailor has gone missing from a ship in Somalia. Family members of N Bharath Nagendra Manikanta in the city are a worried lot as they lost touch with him since January 16. “He said everything was well and was happy. And now we have got a message from a friend of his on the same ship that he is not to be found on the ship. We wonder what has happened to him,” said T Saritha, a close family member. Saritha who works in the city told TOI that Bharat had studied B Tech (mechanical) from Narsapuram in West Godavari and through campus placement had got a job on a ship. He joined the Tanzanian ship M V Taif on November 11, 2017 after undergoing training for nine months. He was recruited by West Line Ship Management Pvt Limited, Ahmedabad. “We are not getting any information about Bharath even from the company except that they cannot find him on board,” Saritha said.
Bharath’s parents hail from Marteru village in Penumantra village of West Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. His father Nakka Durga Prasad Rao is employed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a heavy vehicle driver with a private company.
According to information available with the family, the ship reportedly broke down at Somalia on December 25, 2017. Bharath, an engine cadet had reportedly gone to his room on board the ship after finishing his work on January 16 but did not report for duty the next day. When a colleague of his, Shiva, who went to his room to check, Bharath was neither in the room nor anywhere else on the ship. He immediately informed this to the officials concerned on the ship.
“We do not know how to get in touch with the ship authorities. We are also unable to get through to Shiva,” Saritha said. MBT leader Amjed Ullah Khanhas written to union external affairs minister about Bharath going missing. Meanwhile on Saturday, an official of the Indian High Commission in Kenya called Saritha and enquired from her about the location of the ship in Somalia. The only information the family has is that he as on M V Taif the IMO no. of the ship is 9318400.
On November 10, 2017 Ethihad Shipping LLC gave a letter saying that seaman N Bharath Nagendra Mankikan was travelling from Hyderabad to Dubai to join the vessel M V Taif on November 11.
