Cargo ship stranded in Pakistan for months, sailor's kin high & dry

30 Oct 2026, 10:11 PM 3 min read

NEW DELHI: “Mummy, when will Papa come home?” The question, asked repeatedly by three-year-old Vedansh Mishra, has become a painful reminder of a family’s prolonged wait.Vedansh’s father, Vineet Kishore Mishra, chief officer of a cargo ship, has been stranded at a port in Karachi, Pakistan, since April, leaving his family in UP’s Prayagraj struggling to secure his return.For the past seven months, the family has approached several politicians and appealed for intervention, but their efforts have yielded little.

Now, in a desperate bid to get their voices heard, they have travelled to Delhi and checked into a hotel in Paharganj, hoping to meet senior govt functionaries. They have appealed to PM, President and MEA to help bring their loved ones home.Vineet’s wife Neha told TOI she is often left speechless when her son asks about his father. “I have no answer. I tell him his father will return once his duty is over,” she said.

The couple also have a 10-month-old daughter.The family said Vineet had written to the Indian embassy, seeking urgent intervention for the six Indian seafarers stranded aboard the cargo vessel at Karachi port. He flagged a prolonged blackout, shortages of essential supplies and deteriorating health conditions onboard, warning the crew faced a serious risk to their lives.Vineet said the Indian crew had been unable to leave the vessel despite their employment contracts having expired several months ago.

The vessel has been under court arrest since around April 29, after arriving at Karachi port on April 17. He had joined the ship on Feb 25 at Bandar Abbas anchorage in Iran.The seafarers have alleged their passports and seaman’s books are in the custody of the authorities or the vessel’s agent, preventing them from independently arranging their departure.Lalit Kishore Mishra, Vineet’s father and a retired Armyman, said the past seven months had been extremely difficult for the family.

They occasionally manage to speak to him when network connectivity is available, but the calls last barely a few minutes. “The situation worsened after the vessel suffered a continuous blackout. They were getting food from the port authorities,” he said.Neha said the family is currently depending on her father-in-law’s pension to manage expenses. They said two letters, one written by an MP and another by an MLA, had been sent to central govt seeking intervention.