A Syrian sailor has disappeared while on a ship, and his mysterious disappearance has become a parody of the detective novels of the famous writer Agatha Christie.
A few days ago, and on a dark list that included others who preceded him, the young Ahmed Al-Faraj (23 years old) was missing aboard the “prince Salem” commercial ship owned by a Lebanese person, on which he was working, in mid-October, when the ship was heading from Lebanon to Libya.
Without any details that amount to silencing the voice of the family’s tragedy and their questions, the captain of the ship contented himself with conveying the news of the loss of Faraj to the uncle of the young man, with whom he had a friendly relationship after he left his room in the evening to smoke a cigarette, only to disappear without anyone seeing him.
The sailor (Al-Faraj), who is the fourth among his fellow Syrian sailors who disappeared without a trace at sea within 4 years, is a student at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport – Latakia Branch, in the second year. He stopped his registration to test the field of maritime work before graduating from the university, especially since within the academy’s curriculum there is an article on maritime training.
Al-Faraj spent five months working on the merchant ship “Prince Salem”, in the field of machinery that falls within the specialization of his studies.
A painful tale as much as it is full of mystery, saturated with questions open to more than one question and exclamation mark as if it is one of the novels of the writer Agatha Christie, which takes events to an upward trend of mystery, excitement, and breathlessness before the code symbols are decomposed to reach the full truth.
A disappearance shrouded in mystery
The mysterious story of Al-Faraj, from which details are absent, told by his brother Muhammad Al-Faraj (25 years), in an interview with “Sputnik” agency: I was in daily contact with my brother Ahmed, who was working on the “Prince Salem” ship, and on October 7 last, the last contact I had with him was, Then he told me that, on the same day, he would travel on the ship to Libya to transport an iron shipment.
A painful silence was broken by scattered words and letters heavy with the edges of tears, to add to Faraj: A week has passed without Ahmed speaking to me. It is true that I know that when he is at sea he cannot speak and he does not have “internet”, but I am worried, so it is unreasonable that They would not have approached the shores of any country!?.
Al-Faraj continued: I tried to contact him repeatedly but to no avail. I also tried to contact his comrades whose numbers I know, and when my attempts were unsuccessful, I speculated that they were at sea and did not have a network.
The days passed long and heavy and I was waiting for a call from my brother to reassure my heart and the heart of my father, who were constantly asking about his news, and the faraj echoed: Until the ship’s captain called my uncle, who had a friendly relationship, on November 1, informing him that my brother Ahmed had gone missing at sea on October 13, during The ship is headed to Libya.
The series of the disappearance of sailors at sea
Iyad Khalil, the Syrian journalist specializing in the maritime transport sector, revealed to “Sputnik” that the incident of missing the young Ahmed Al-Faraj at sea is not the first incident, but rather the fourth in four years, as the loss of four Syrian youths working on foreign ships and Syrian ships that do not fly was recorded. Syrian flag.
Khalil confirmed that all incidents of the disappearance of the Syrian sailors were investigated without results, as the sailors who were reported missing were considered missing, and the fate of any of them was not reached.
The captain gives short answers
Asking for more details about how, why, when and where the story of Ahmed Al-Faraj took place as the last of the disappeared sailors, the captain’s answer was brief that Ahmed told his companions on the evening of October 13 that he was going out of the room to smoke a cigarette, and after about a quarter of an hour, he did not return to his room, which raised eyebrows His companions who went out to search for him, but they did not find him.
With the scarce information that was available to him from his brother’s friends who were working with him on the ship, Al-Faraj says that he contacted one of the workers on the ship, and told him that on October 13, while Ahmed Al-Faraj was with us, we asked permission to go out and smoke a cigarette, and after a quarter of An hour and he did not return, we boarded the ship to search for him, but we did not find him, nor did we find a trace of him.
He adds: Immediately we informed the captain and the ship’s security officer, an Indian, who sounded the warning sirens and returned to the place where the relief was supposed to have fallen on the ship, but he was not found.
According to Al-Faraj, he communicated via messenger with the ship’s security officer, who told him that his brother was sick and was vomiting, and when he learned of his loss, he sounded the warning sirens, and a rescue helicopter searched for Ahmed, but he was not found, stressing that the accident occurred at sea. .
With great astonishment haunted by thousands of exclamation points and speculation of a mysterious incident, Al-Faraj taunts about the ship’s crew’s silence about his brother’s disappearance for 18 days without informing his relatives, demanding that his brother’s fate be revealed and what happened with him that night.
Sputnik also contacted the Vice President of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport – Latakia Branch, Dr. Taha Labadi, who confirmed that Ahmed Al-Faraj was a student at the Academy – second year.