Former city sailor wins ‘Unsung Hero’ award

City-based sailor Manoj Joy, who left his high-paying job as seafarer to venture into unchartered terrain of helping other sailors at sea or in other countries, has won the Sailor’s Society’s Unsung Hero Award.

Speaking about his career, Joy said, “I decided to quit my job when I was on a trip to Somalia. The situation there is pathetic. I was touched when I saw a malnourished woman holding her child close to her and taking care of her. This changed my perspective towards life.”

“My daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy syndrome and at that moment all I wanted to do was take care of her. I realised then that money will come and go but what won’t return is the time I spend with my daughter,” he added.

After that, since 2001, Manoj started working with a few lawyers to help soldiers and their families stranded in other countries to return home.

The team relished their first victory in 2005 when the Supreme Court directed the Ministry of Shipping to change the laws in favour of sailors. Over the years that followed, the team worked on poignant cases including bringing back the body of a sailor from Bihar which was detained at New Port in Nigeria for over a month.

In another case, the body of a seafarer from Salem was kept in mortuary in Sharjah. The team managed to bring retrieve his body with the intervention of Madras High Court.

“We work in co-ordination with embassies and make the authorities take concrete action. The trauma experienced by family members of slain sailors is unimaginable. We work as a catalyst to help them get closure,” Joy said.

“The suicidal tendencies among sailors has been on the rise. We are working on it now as the work pressure is high. Bullying, home sickness, love failure and other factors too contribute to this trend,” he added.