The past 24 hours have been a harrowing experience for the family of Pankaj Tyagi, the second officer on the missing ship, MV Rezzak. His mother, Raj, still hopes to see him alive, despite the announcement by the agency that recruited Pankaj that all the 25 men on the ship are presumed dead in the Black Sea. His father, K K Tyagi, is in constant touch with the Indian Embassy in Turkey.

While the family is angry that the Government did not act fast to trace the missing crew, his brother Neeraj, himself in Merchant Navy, alleges that there are many discrepancies in the versions of Pelican, the recruiting agency, and the Turkish company, CMR Shipping, regarding the ship. “One of the mobile phones rang on February 28 and one of the missing persons, Pritam Singh, said “hello” before disconnecting. An SMS message was also received by one of the crew members on his cellphone. If the ship and its crew had drowned, how did Pritam pick up his phone?” asked Neeraj.

The family fears that the ship and crew may have been hijacked by the powerful Russian mafia. “A day after the reported disappearance of the ship, the company filed insurance claim as per information received by us,” said Neeraj.

The family suspects foul play as the ship was only 120 nautical miles from Batin port in Turkey, a five-hour journey in a busy sea lane, when it went missing. Pankaj has last called up on February 13 from Russia. “He had said he was heading towards Turkey,” said his mother.