Sarthak Mahapatra, a 22-year-old merchant navy officer from Bhadrak district of Odisha, has gone missing in the sea off Mauritius. He was posted on a ship named ‘EA Jersey’ and there has been no trace of him since the morning of 3 February 2026. As soon as the information about this incident was received, there was an atmosphere of worry in his family and the shipping company confirmed the incident and said that the officer has gone missing while on duty.
🚨: RBI gives big relief to bank customers, Rs 25,000 will be refunded in case of online fraud.
When was last seen?
Sarthak Mahapatra joined Anglo-Eastern Ship Management in July 2025. According to reports, on February 2, he spoke to his family on video call. He was last seen going to his cabin on the morning of 3 February. When checked around 8:30 am, he was not in his room. At that time the ship was at a distance of 135 nautical miles from Mauritius. The company immediately counted all the people present on the ship and started the search operation.
Government and administration action
Seeing the seriousness of the incident, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written a letter to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Calling it mysterious, he has sought immediate help. DG Shipping has also launched a joint search operation in collaboration with Mauritius authorities. A search has been conducted in an area of about 169 nautical square miles by several ships and air means. Till now no trace of Sarthak has been found and the rescue operation is going on continuously.
