Mehul Choksi was not on board, says captain of the Calliope of Arne yacht

A new turn has come up in Mehul Choksi's story, captain of the Calliope of Arne yacht told media that the Indian fugitive never boarded the yacht. Stories have been going all over social media stating that Mehul Choksi was abducted and taken to Dominica on Calliope of Arne Yacht while the captain of the boat Captain Fernandes Fertinant, revealed to Associates Times there were only five people on board, including three crew members.

Fertinant said he had been sailing between Caribbean islands for the past two decades and have great experience in providing charter services to all.

Speaking about the purpose of visiting Dominica from Antigua and Barbuda on May 23, Fertinant said his two clients had planned to sail from Antigua to Dominica and then St Lucia. He also told local newsgroups that the individuals he was hired by were two men aged between 50-65 years and one person who had difficulty in walking.

Captain of Calliope of Arne refused to tell his clients' names and stated he has a privacy clause with all his customers. He said he would only disclose the names to authorities.

Fertinant told that the yacht was hired on May 19 for one week and they left for Dominica on May 23 at around 10 am after clearing customs in Antigua and Barbuda. He also stated that the yacht reached Portsmouth, Dominica, on midnight of the same date (May 23, 2021), but they cleared the Dominican customs the following day due to late hours.

"We kept on sailing for four days, the second guest got ocean sickness, and when we reached Dominica, they had to cancel the plans to visit St Lucia and stayed in Dominica. From there, I sailed back to St Lucia with my crew members," told Fertinant.

Furthermore, he stated that he had never operated a yacht for those clients before, and they were new to him. He noted that the men looked very old and weak; with the older person limping from one leg, they can't commit a crime like an abduction.

The boat captain also stated that there was no woman on the sail, and they were all men, including the crew members.

Fertinent stated that only some government officials reached out to him, but no media or lawyers contacted him. Talking about the photos of the Calliope of Arne surfaced on social media showing the men on board, the ship captain said the images were taken by customs officers on May 24 in Dominica while doing a routine inspection. He also stated that there could be CCTV footage revealing their departure from Antigua as well.