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HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, DEC 14 — Two Goans are among the five Indian crew members feared dead after a Malaysian ship ran aground off the coast of Alaska last week. The five, along with a Filipino, were on board a US Coast Guard rescue helicopter that crashed into the sea. All efforts to search them failed by Saturday, according to reports.The Goan crew members were identified as Blaise M Mascarenhas (33) and Zaferino M Vaz (46), both from Salcete, while the other Indian crew members were identified as Dildar Singh (44) of Gurdaspur-Punjab, Durg V Singh (54) of Thane-Maharashtra and Narendra S Yadav (52) of Gurgaon-Haryana.The five Indian crew members along with Carlos Flores Santiago (45) from the Philippines plunged into the sea when a Coast Guard helicopter crashed at about 6.15 pm on Wednesday while evacuating them from the freighter. Four others, including three Coast Guard personnel, were rescued from the water by a second helicopter that evening. According to reports, Selendang Ayu, the 738-foot vessel that was carrying 5,00,000 gallons of fuel and bulk soyabean cargo, ran aground last Wednesday and broke into two in the Bering Sea. The vessel lost power in its main engine on Tuesday. The Selendang Ayu ran aground more than 40-hours after the ship’s main engine broke down causing it to drift in high winds and heavy seas. Tugs and Coast Guard cutters were unable to halt its drift onto a shoal, where it broke apart the next day. The Coast Guard has rescued 20 of the Selendang Ayu’s 26 crewmen. The 738-foot Selendang Ayu, owned by the Singapore-based IMC Group, was cleaved neatly in two, both pieces grounded upright and parallel about 200 feet from the shore near Skan Bay on the western side of the island. Farther upshore lay the wreckage of the Coast Guard helicopter, its red fuselage blackened and barely recognizable. On Monday, Admiral Thomas H. Collins, Commandant of US Coast Guard, called Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen in Washington to convey his condolences over the loss of five Indian lives in the mishap. Although no bodies have been recovered, chances of survival in the frigid waters were “almost nil”, Admiral Collins informed and conveyed his condolences to the next of kin. An Indian embassy spokesman said that relatives of the deceased have been informed. According to reports, about 20 other crew members, including eight Indians, were rescued by Coast Guard helicopters after the shipwreck. Rough seas hampered both the rescue operation and efforts to deal with a major oil spill. “We have suspended the search… The very first priority is not to endanger anyone’s life,” US Coast Guard spokeswoman Cindy Marshall was quoted in the report.
