His presence of mind in saving the life of a person in distress is getting him commendation wherever he goes. Captaining passenger ship m.v. Swaraj Dweep, Shantaram Rajaram Lokhande, during the voyage from Port Blair to Chennai, saw one of the passengers jumping into the sea. His presence of mind helped rescue the passenger in distress. The incident happened in June 2012.
For his valiant effort, the captain’s name has been recommended for President’s Bravery Award. He received commendation from Lt. Governor of Andaman and Nicobar, Chairman and Managing Director of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), and Maharashtra Chief Secretary.
A passenger named Selvam jumped into the Bay of Bengal when the ship was at a speed of 12 knots (22 km) and sea swell was 2.5 to 3 metres. After sounding an emergency alarm, the head count of all crew members and passengers was taken. The engine was kept ready for manoeuvring.
“We altered the ship course for searching. We threw lifebuoys with line and life jacket in water. Finally, the passenger held one of the lifebuoys firmly and swam a little. He was picked at the gangway by ship crew. Later, he was rushed to hospital on a stretcher, and the doctor found him fit and healthy, giving us a big relief,” Capt. Lokhande told The Hindu recalling the incident during a telephonic/email chat.
He is now captaining Sindhu Sadhana, the indigenously built research vessel acquired by the National Institute of Oceanography.
Hailing from a farmer’s family of Maharashtra, he had done M.Sc. (applied electronics) and Masters (foreign going) course. He joined the SCI in 1990 and worked on various types of ships, including tankers, cargo and bulk carriers.
