Mumbai: Mystery surrounds missing city shippie

A 30yearold seafarer onboard a ship on its maiden voyage from Japan to Canada has gone missing According to ship officials Viraj Kalugade jumped into the sea but his familymdashwho say he was a good swimmer and that he had no reason to take such a step and have found the crewrsquos statements contradictorymdashsuspect foul play Kalugadersquos family had written to DG Shipping and Govandi police requesting a probeKalugade 30 resided in MiraBhayander and is survived by his mother and three sisters In July an individual named Nishad attached to the manning company Executive Ship Management Pvt Ltd ESM offered Kalugade the post of AB seaman Kalugade flew to Japan on July 15 and boarded the bulk carrier MV Cape Satsuki on July 26 The ship was to travel between South Korea and CanadaVirajrsquos sister Prabha DrsquoSouza and mother Lata Kalugade at the familyrsquos residence in Mira Road on Sunday PicsAnurag AhireKalugade who got engaged in April remained in touch with his mother Lata and his sisters At 1007 am on July 30 Lata received a call from an individual named Ketan from Govandibased ESM According to Latarsquos brother Rajesh Kusale Ketan incessantly enquired about the Kalugade familyrsquos background ldquoMy sister wondered why this stranger was asking about our personal lives and background She told him we are a closeknit family and we all are happy When she questioned him Ketan said that the ship was sailing from Korea towards Canada and that her son was missing Ketan said that they were still searching the ship for him He incessantly asked about Virajrsquos call with Lata if Viraj mentioned anything out of the ordinary if he was unwell My sister said she had a good conversation with Viraj at 1030 pm on July 29 that he was happy and that he said his watch was at 4 am She asked Ketan to check if he was sleeping somewhere on the ship Ketan promised to keep her informedrdquo Kusale said Kusale said that the call made Lata suspicious as she felt that Ketan was trying to make her say certain things ldquoWhen she questioned how Viraj could just go missing Ketan ended the conversation and cut the callrdquo Kusale addedAfter the call the family checked Google Photos where pictures taken on Virajrsquos phone get synced They found two videos of Viraj dancing during a party onboard the ship At 607 pm on the same day the family received an email from EMS representative Sachin Dhawle stating that Viraj jumped into the sea Around 730 pm Dhawle and another ESM representative visited Virajrsquos residence ldquoThey said that someone saw Viraj fall off the ship ESM mailed us the Statement of Facts submitted by the shiprsquos Master Chief Officer 2nd Officer and the Bosunrdquo Kusale saidContradictions notedThe Kalugade familyrsquos suspicions arise mainly from the contradictions in the statements of the crew According to the Kalugade family Bosun Arjala Lakshmana Rao said in his July 30 statement that at 507 am local time 137 am IST the Chief Officer CO asked him to come to the poop deck and get Viraj Rao found Viraj hanging from the railing on the outside of the ship Rao said he tried to hold Virajrsquos hand from the bridge wing He added that the CO saw him hold Virajrsquos hand Rao then said that he couldnrsquot hold on any longerAccording to Capt Kumar Patkurirsquos statement when he went to the bridge wing on the port side left side he saw Viraj in the water and Rao holding a buoy in the poop deck Capt Kumar Patkuri did not corroborate Raorsquos statement that he tried to hold on to a hanging Virajrsquos hand Capt Kumar Patkuri said the CO raised a general alarm at 0520 am IST and informed him that Viraj was jumping overboard The CO too did not mention seeing Rao hold on to VirajThe Kalugade family questioned the call from Ketan more than eight hours after the incident ldquoSurely Ketan and other ESM officials must have already known the details of the incidents and the statements of the crew Yet Ketan lied to us and said they were searching for him on the ship on July 30 Furthermore it was only at 607 pm nearly 17 hours after the incident that ESM emailed us about Viraj jumping into the waterrdquo Kusale saidVirajrsquos sister Prabha DrsquoSouzaKalugade said ldquoMy brother was the life of the family His disappearance is disturbing Ever since July 30 we felt there was something missing in the sequence of events We submitted a complaint to Govandi police a couple of days ago We wrote to DG Shipping on August 21 We want a transparent and indepth investigation and we want to see the CCTV camera footage from the shiprdquo Manoj Joy an activist working for seafarersrsquo families in crises said ldquoThe government and police should focus on an indepth probe They must also check the Voyage Data Recorder to know what exactly happened The company may try to portray this as a suicide to avoid paying compensation to the familyrdquoProbe in progressGovandi policersquos Senior Inspector Sudarshan Honwadajkar has directed Inspector Sachin Hire to conduct an inquiry ldquoThe incident happened when the ship was passing through Japanese waters Now the ship has reached Canada and we are waiting for a report from the Canadian police We have written to DG Shipping as well and through them we are conducting further investigationrdquo said an officer from Govandi police ldquoAfter receiving the familyrsquos complaint our officers visited ESMrsquos office to make enquiries The investigation is in progressrdquo said HonwadajkarJuly 15Day Viraj flew to JapanJuly 26Day Viraj boarded the shipWhat happened137 am Time IST Viraj fell overboard1007 am Time IST Virajrsquos mother was told he was being searched for607 pm Time IST family received email about Viraj falling overboard