A 33-year-old seaman is missing and feared dead after he fell from the vessel he was working on at sea on Wednesday.
The missing man has been identified as Navishwar Karamdatt, also known as ‘Sharma,’ who is a resident of Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara and was working with Pritipaul Singh Investment Inc. at the time of the mishap.
The incident is reported to have occurred around 10 am on Wednesday. This newspaper was unable to confirm where it took place.
Karamdatt was a part of a five-member crew which was captained by Chrishnadat Sukhdeo, called ‘Panther,’ 24, of Lot 1123 17th Street, Diamond Housing Scheme. The other crew members have been identified as Jonathan DeFreitas, 23, Vidprikash Sukhdeo, 17, and Pritviraj Seewnarine, 34, all of Diamond, East Bank Demerara.
The men departed the Pritipaul Singh Wharf on December 3rd for a three-week voyage on the ‘MV Snook 1’.
Sunday Stabroek understands that around 9.30 pm on Friday, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pritipaul Singh Investment Inc. reported that he received a call from Sukhdeo, who informed him that one of his crew members was missing.
The CEO then reportedly instructed the captain to return to the wharf.
Around 5.50 am yesterday, the vessel arrived at the Houston wharf and the crew members were detained for questioning.
During the questioning, Sukhdeo reportedly told the police that on Wednesday he was piloting the vessel when he heard one of the crew members shouting, “Man overboard! Man overboard!”
Upon checking, he said he saw Karamdatt some distance away in the waters.
As a result, he claimed that he immediately turned around the vessel but they were unable to get to Karamdatt before he disappeared in the water.
The men, who include a brother-in-law of Karamdatt, all provided the police with a similar account of what took place when questioned.
However, they remained in custody yesterday pending further investigation.
Several CCTV cameras are mounted on the vessel and they captured Karamdatt’s fall.
In the footage seen by this newspaper, Karamdatt was at the rear of the vessel with another crew member when the vessel began to sway from side to side amidst strong waves.
Karamdatt can be seen falling on the deck and sliding through the railing into the water. The other crew member, who also slipped but managed to hold on, subsequently stands and then after spotting Karamdatt, he goes off camera, seemingly to alert the other members of the crew.
