Indian police have opened an investigation into the death of a captain on board a VLCC off the port of Kochi.
The Hindu daily reported that 43-year-old Salim Khan, from Uttar Pradesh in India, died on the 299,999-dwt Wen Yao (built 2005) on 29 December.
The Fort Kochi coastal police station has registered a case, the report added.
Illness has been reported as a probable cause.
Khan passed away while the Panama-flag ship was sailing off Kavaratti island in Lakshadweep.
Crew members told police the master had digestion issues and slight chest pain at the time.
He was treated on the ship, but could not be saved.
The ship later docked in Kochi, where police boarded and carried out enquiries.
The body was then taken to the city’s general hospital after an inquest was opened.
A post-mortem examination was due to be carried out on the following day.
Sold by CMES
The tanker was anchored in Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
The vessel had left Yantai in China on 18 December.
Clarksons and Equasis list the Wen Yao as managed by Nan Lian Ship Management of Dubai. No one at the company was immediately available to answer TradeWinds’ questions on Thursday morning.
The ship was sold to United Arab Emirates-based GCC Fuel Supply by China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) in the summer of 2022.
The Chinese tanker owner said it had offloaded the tankers as the New Spirit to the Sharjah-based company for CNY 217.58 ($32.4m), according to a regulatory filing.
This was the second VLCC acquired by GCC from the world’s largest VLCC owner, after it bought the 296,000-dwt New Talisman (built 2009) for CNY 249.5m.
