Airlifting of another kind
As the airlifting of people from war-ravaged Afghanistan continues, I am reminded of an airlifting of a different kind that we had to carry out for a colleague of mine from foreign shores to redeem his dignity after he had passed away.
On merchant navy ships, navigation and engineering are the two main departments, the former headed by the captain, being responsible for cargo loading/unloading and navigating. The chief engineer looks after the propulsion of the ship and other machinery like electricity generators which supply power at sea as well as in ports. There is the supporting staff, deck, engine room crew and catering staff to maintain sundry services.
The navigation staff headed by the captain has a radio officer for keeping the ship in contact with the world and a purser for clerical work and disbursing wages. The chief engineer is assisted by five marine engineers and an electrical officer. He is overall in charge, but his next in command, the second engineer, is the de-facto head of the engineering department.
On one of the ships where I was the second engineer, my chief engineer was Ahmed Najeeb. During my service, Najeeb was the best boss I had. In due course, when I was promoted as the chief engineer, Najeeb saheb especially came on my ship to congratulate me.
On one occasion, when both of our ships were in New York, he had a massive heart attack and died even before he could be taken to hospital. My shipping company’s branch office in New York, which looks after the affairs of all our ships in US ports, informed our head office in Mumbai, which contacted his family.
His family wanted his body to be brought back to India for burial in his ancestral village. Since my ship had just come to New York to load cargo in ports, and Najeeb saheb’s ship was ready to sail for India, I was transferred to his ship.
For my ship, I handed over the charge to my second engineer, till my replacement was sent. Since his family wanted the body brought back to India, it was decided to be carried in Najeeb saheb’s own ship where now I was the chief engineer.
The ship’s captain had no objection and I made arrangements to keep the body in the reefer room where the perishable cargo is stored. But a section of the crew members protested. Despite efforts, they were not convinced. There was no alternative but to airlift the body to India. But due to financial issues, my shipping company did not agree to bear the cost of airlifting.
The other officers and I contributed whatever we could in the scarce US dollars, and with help from the local Indian residents, we managed to send the body to Mumbai.
Even today, the memory of that incident often haunts me.
