Seven Months on, Sailor's Parents Await His Return

Mumbai: More than seven months after he set sail on his maiden journey, the family of 22-year-old son Kalpesh Shinde are still awaiting his return.

Kalpesh's cargo ship Haddad 1 was intercepted by the Greece coastguard off Crete islands for alleged arms smuggling and nothing has been heard about him ever since.

Kalpesh's father Rajendra says, "When will he come? The union office said your son will come in two months but it's been almost seven months. There has been no response. We have lost hope that he will return."

The family says Kalpesh had no idea about the huge cache of arms and ammunition.

Rajendra adds, "Kalpesh said the challan mentioned that there were furniture and phones inside the container."

Cargo ship Haddad 1 was carrying 5,000 rifles, 5 lakh cartridges and 4,900 cartons of cigarettes. Greece coastguard has detained the crew members including two Indians.

The illegal cargo is believed to have been loaded 50 kms away from Syria. Haddad 1 was sailing from Turkey to Libya's western port Misrata.

The company, Corporate Maritime Services, had sent seven crew members including Kalpesh. Five of them disembarked in Egypt since the company had warned them about some suspicious material in the cargo. But Kalpesh continued with the sail.

Family members say he wasn't informed about it.

Sumit More, Kalpesh's relative, says, "This is a communication problem. Crew members only told him that there were no problems. And he could continue and make one last trip."

The Shinde family till date has no clue about the charges levelled against Kalpesh. All these months they have only been relying on the company for his return. But with little progress in the case, they are hoping that the government will step in.