A 24-year-old Indian seafarer is said to have died of suicide mid-voyage.
According to a report in Emirati outlet Gulf News, the crew member was found hanged while the unnamed oil tanker, en route to a scrapyard, was in international waters.
The report, citing India's consulate in Dubai, said the body was taken to the United Arab Emirates.
“[The crew members] were under trauma and they didn’t have a freezer facility to keep him for days till they reach India. That is why they returned to UAE waters,” Neeraj Agrawal, consul for press, information and culture at the Indian consulate, told Gulf News.
The seafarer, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, was one of 13 crew members on board the ship sailing from Sharjah to Gujarat.
After he was found dead, the ship was brought to Khor Fakkan in Sharjah, where authorities gave clearance to have his remains brought ashore.
The ship remains at the port.
“We have requested the police to expedite the procedures. We have also spoken to his family. They are shocked. They said he was a happy-go-lucky guy. He had talked to them a few days ago also," said Jitender Singh Negi, another Indian consul.
The International Seafarers’ Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN) South Asia branch called the suicide a "very sad and disturbing incident".
"Need to introspect on why one more young sailor decided to end his life. [ISWAN South Asia] and others are in touch with seafarers as well as family at home," the group tweeted.
"RIP departed soul."
It is unclear why the man took his own life.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on seafarer mental health, with some crews having to spend a year or longer at sea, although it is unknown if this man was one of them.
A survey by the International Transport Workers' Federation Seafarers' Trust and Yale University found 20% of polled seafarers had contemplated suicide or self-harm in the two weeks prior.
