Alappuzha: The much-awaited phone call finally arrived at ‘Sreejaalayam’ in Pathiyoor in Alappuzha, in the early hours on Friday.

Anilkumar, who had been reported missing on Wednesday, following the Houthi missile attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea, spoke to his wife Sreeja at 01:45 am.

Anil was one of the security officers onboard the vessel.

Suspected to be in Yemeni Army custody; rescue efforts on

He informed her that he is currently in Yemen but would not be able to disclose further details.

The ex-army man spoke to his son Anaj as well, though daughter Anagha’s wish to converse with him went unfulfilled. Anil ended the call with a promise to call again later.

Reports indicate that Anil may be in the custody of the Yemeni Army.

The Indian embassy will reportedly begin efforts toward his return, on Monday.

India does not have an embassy stationed in Yemen. Hence the rescue efforts are undertaken by the embassy in Saudi Arabia.

Officials visited Anil’s home in Alappuzha

Officials from the Central Intelligence Bureau (IB) as well as the tehsildar arrived at Anil’s house and made enquiries.

The number from which Anil made the call was also recorded.

The Houthi attack which sunk the ship occurred in the Yemeni territory off the Red Sea on June 7. The Greek vessel was heading to Jeddah after delivering cargo in Somalia.

Of the crew onboard, the captain was Russian, with only two Malayalis onboard, and a majority of the remaining crew are from Philippines, as per reports.

Four crew members died during the attack, while the others jumped into the water, wearing life jackets. Ten were rescued, including Augustine from Thiruvananthapuram, and taken to Saudi Arabia in another vessel sent by the same company.

Augustin returned home on Wednesday. No information had been available about the others.

Anil last called his family on July 6

Anilkumar had contacted his family on June 6 upon reaching Somalia, even showing them the process of unloading grain over WhatsApp call.

The ship was attacked en route to Jeddah, after which his family had not heard from him.

The family had registered a complaint with Non-Resident Keralite’s Affairs (NORKA) by contacting MLA U. Prathibha.

Both Anilkumar and Augustine were working as security officers on the Greek cargo ship, MV Eternity C. Sea Guardian Maritime Security is the parent company which supplied the security services.

Anilkumar had procured the job through a consultancy in Palakkad. While aboard the ship, telephone service was hard to come by, making it difficult to stay in touch with family.