Incident reported on Monday, July 31 with Reeta Sahani and her husband on their way back to Singapore from Penang
Singapore: A 64-year-old Indian woman on board a cruise ship is missing as the ship sailed through the Strait of Singapore from Penang, the northern island state of Peninsular Malaysia.
Reeta Sahani and her husband Jakesh Sahani were headed back to Singapore from Penang aboard the Spectrum of the Seas. Monday was also the last day of the couple’s four-day cruis.
Jakesh, a retiree tried to locate his wife on the sprawling cruise ship but in vain. He later informed the ship’s crew, who told him the ship’s overboard detection systems had been alerted that something had fallen from the vessel into the Singapore Strait.
‘Spectrum of the Seas’ is a 113-km long and 19-km wide busy shipping route between the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea with Singapore on the north of the channel.
Jakesh’s son, Apoorv Sahani, not on the cruise, said his family members are still in the dark about his mother’s current status.
The 39-year-old architect said his mother could not swim, and that his father was made to go through an interview with the police that lasted a few hours.
“We have asked to see the CCTV footage, but, so far, we have not received anything yet for us to confirm that it was her. All we know is that the ship’s crew thinks she jumped into the water,” the broadsheet quoted Apoorv as saying.
“Eventually my father was told to get down from the ship because there was another cruise that was going to take place, but we think she may still be on the ship, stuck somewhere,” he said.
Apoorv added, “She was on a holiday enjoying herself and then this whole thing happened. It does not make sense.”
Meanwhile, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement on Monday that the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Singapore was notified about the incident at about 7.50 am.
The passenger was on board the Cyprus-flagged Spectrum of the Seas, and had fallen overboard, although no further details were provided, it said.
*******************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com