Missing Ship Mystery Deepens
Anupama Ramachandran
NDTV.com, India
_____________
Mumbai (India):
Until now it seemed that the ship Jupiter 6, which had disappeared nearly a month ago, may have gone under water.
Jupiter 6 set sail from South Africa to India in August and it had a crew of 13, including 10 Indians and three Ukranians.
It disappeared a week after it set sail. But now the mystery has deepened with evidence that the ship probably never sank and may have been diverted to some other destination.
On September 5, the company in Mumbai that manages the ship, received the last communication signal from Jupiter 6.
Then almost a month later on October 8, the same transmitter on the ship sent a distress signal suggesting that the ship had gone under.
The transmitter is designed to float to the surface and automatically send a distress signal, if the ship drowns.
But when a search party spotted the transmitter, floating off the South Africa coast, they found that the signal had been activated manually.
This could mean that the transmitter was deliberately thrown into the sea to suggest that the ship sank, while it may have been diverted elsewhere.
Pelmar Shipping and Engineering says that they are still grappling with the implications of this information.
But right now, they are also grappling with charges from the families of the crew, who say they have not been given the full picture.
Oct 15, 2005
Anupama Ramachandran
NDTV.com, India
_____________
Mumbai (India):
Until now it seemed that the ship Jupiter 6, which had disappeared nearly a month ago, may have gone under water.
Jupiter 6 set sail from South Africa to India in August and it had a crew of 13, including 10 Indians and three Ukranians.
It disappeared a week after it set sail. But now the mystery has deepened with evidence that the ship probably never sank and may have been diverted to some other destination.
On September 5, the company in Mumbai that manages the ship, received the last communication signal from Jupiter 6.
Then almost a month later on October 8, the same transmitter on the ship sent a distress signal suggesting that the ship had gone under.
The transmitter is designed to float to the surface and automatically send a distress signal, if the ship drowns.
But when a search party spotted the transmitter, floating off the South Africa coast, they found that the signal had been activated manually.
This could mean that the transmitter was deliberately thrown into the sea to suggest that the ship sank, while it may have been diverted elsewhere.
Pelmar Shipping and Engineering says that they are still grappling with the implications of this information.
But right now, they are also grappling with charges from the families of the crew, who say they have not been given the full picture.
Oct 15, 2005
