Search for missing ‘Seamax’ boat crew member halted

Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) has halted the search operation to locate the crew member who went missing from a local vessel ‘Seamax’ traveling from Addu City to Male’ City.

Raj Kumar, a Nepalese national employee on the vessel went missing some time on Monday evening.

In a message to the media on Friday, MNDF said the search operation to locate the missing crew member is halted at present.

The authority said they had covered a 304 nautical miles area as part of the search operation on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the area surrounding Fuvahmulah City on Thursday.

However, the missing crew member has yet to be found despite the vast search.

Prior to this, Maldives Police Service said the disappearance of the crew member came to notice when the vessel was eight miles out of Fuvahmulah City.

Police further confirmed Raj Kumar was present on the vessel when it embarked from Addu City at 23:30 hrs on Monday evening, and he had spoken with the vessel’s captain around 01:15 hrs on Tuesday early hours.

The case is also under investigation by the Police.

Notably, Maldives is presently experiencing a bad weather spell. Henceforth, authorities have urged seafarers to exercise caution.