At the Solankis’ ground-plus-one house in Mahaveer Nagar in Kandivali West, a framed photo of Dixit Solanki stands on a small wooden stool draped with a red cloth. In one corner, Dixit’s father Amratlal sits quietly, avoiding everyone — friends, well-wishers and, most of all, the media.The 64-year-old Amratlal has heard that his 32-year-old son is gone — killed in an explosion that rocked the vessel he worked on, the oil tanker MKD Vyom — but so far, he has refused to garland the photo frame. His reason: the body has yet to be found.“So far, I don’t have a clear picture of my son’s body. I have been given false information from the start,” he tells The Indian Express.On March 1, MKD Vyom was hit by an unmanned boat 52 nautical miles off the coast of Muscat Governorate — the casualty of the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict. The attack, allegedly from the Iranian side, resulted in a fire and explosion in the engine room, killing Dixit. Dixit SolankiFive days later, his family still has no clarity on whether the body has been found, with Amratlal alleging he has been receiving conflicting information. In an attempt to find his son’s body, he met some of the crew members who returned safely to India at a hotel in Andheri.“I asked them [the crew members] a basic question — when a blast has happened and the iron vessel was smashed into pieces, how will a human body remain intact in that blast? They then started giving vague answers that they went back and tried their best to pull out the body,” Amratlal, an ex-seafarer himself, says.According to him, two officials from the shipping company — including a captain — visited his house hours after the attack and told him that Dixit’s breathing had stopped and that they would update him. “After about 10 hours, they sent a message that said Dixit had died and that his body would soon be transferred to me,” he said.Story continues below this ad Amratlal Solanki at his residence in Mumbai. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)When he contacted the ship management company, he was allegedly told that there were unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the body. But he still has questions. “They told me they tried their best to pull him out and had dragged his body till the upper deck. But then, why was he not rescued, or if he had died, why was his body not taken out from the vessel? They didn’t have answers,” he says.On their part, V. Ships Asia, managers of the Marshall Islands-flagged MKD Vyom, said Dixit, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, had died but that the remaining 21 crew members — including Ukrainian, Indian and Bangladeshi nationals — were safely rescued and have now disembarked ashore in Oman.“We are in contact with the crew member’s family and are providing all necessary support. Our deepest condolences are with them during this extremely difficult time,” the company said, adding that tugboats reached the vessel on March 2 and successfully extinguished the fire.But for Solanki, that’s poor consolation. “All I want is to perform my son’s last rites so that his soul can rest in peace,” he says.The waitStory continues below this adThe Solankis belong to the Kharwa community, a Gujarati coastal community traditionally involved in fishing and seafaring. Dixit, who worked as an oiler on the vessel, had been employed at sea for the past eight years. His older sister, 34, works in Dubai. Amratlal’s wife, who had been undergoing dialysis for six years, died on October 23 last year.Dixit had last visited home for his mother’s funeral. “I got him a job in the same company where I had worked,” Solanki says.After a period of mourning, the family had been preparing for the sister’s wedding — until tragedy struck. On March 1, hours before the incident, his son had texted the family saying there was a “war-like situation” at sea and that he was going down to the engine room for his shift. Amratlal Solanki, father of Dixit Solanki, speaks during an interview at his residence in Mumbai. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)After his son’s death, condolences poured in from various quarters — including from the President of India, who promised the family that efforts were being made to find the body.Story continues below this adAmratlal says he has written letters to the Seamen’s Employment Office — the organisation that regulates recruitment of seafarers — as well as sailors’ unions, adding that he would seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention.Officials from the shipping office in Ballard say they are constantly coordinating with the shipping companies. According to officials, MKD Vyom was carrying 58,000 metric tons of gasoline.There are a total 23,000 Indian seafarers currently in the Persian Gulf region and 38 Indian ships.At Mahaveer Nagar — the family’s home for 40 years — these words ring hollow. Since the news broke, the family has kept to themselves, say neighbours.Story continues below this ad“We learnt about this through newspapers and news channels but he isn’t talking to anybody,” their 74-year-old neighbour Sugandha Subhash Parab says. “I’ve seen the children grow up. That boy was very sweet, I can’t believe he’s gone.”