A Tribute to Capt. Charles Gnanakone

| by Usha S Sri-Skanda-Rajah

( August 01, 2012, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) The passing of Capt. Charles Selvakumar Gnanakone will be felt by many and news of his death received with great sadness – especially by those he had helped, now living in various parts of the globe.

Although I have never met him, Capt. Charles as he was fondly called, was one of those I held in high esteem for the person he was; I knew of him through the hundreds he had helped when we lived in Manila - youngsters he had helped to find jobs - so that they could get on their feet, become financially independent and help their families - some of whom we had the good fortune of getting to know in Manila - they worked for Neptune Agate, a container ship which plied weekly between HongKong and Manila. These young seamen, commissioned and non-commissioned from deck hands to cooks, bosuns, engineers, and officers were in awe of Capt. Charles and very grateful to him and the Gnanakone family; they had the highest respect for him and that they hero - worshipped him was no exaggeration. Undoubtedly these youngsters were given a break in life to get ahead in their careers, when opportunities were few and far between, many of them becoming engineers and captains, owing their success in part to the Gnanakones. I saw this with my own eyes.

We used to visit the Neptune Agate when it was docked in the Manila port, to meet with these seamen, who became our friends, almost our extended family. The Crossworld Group of companies founded in 1973 by Capt. Charles together with his brother Jayantha Donald Gnanakone and a relative and friend, Mr. Mani Vasagar and other partners, was given the contract to manage Neptune Agate along with other ships owned by the Singapore government. Growing and flourishing with offices in Singapore, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, India and Egypt, the Crossworld group owned, operated and managed essentially cargo ships in the seventies and early eighties, earning a name for itself in Asia and the Middle East and the Gnanakones and Capt. Charles were unquestionably leaders in the field of shipping and the envy of many.

Qualified in Britain, holding a Master Mariner’s certificate, that allows captains to operate any vessel in any part of the world, Capt. Charles, was a pioneer in merchant shipping in Ceylon and had many firsts to his credit. He was appointed the first Operations Manager of the then newly formed Ceylon Shipping Corporation in 1969. Later in 1982 with his brother Jayantha Gnanakone he introduced containerized shipping to Sri Lanka, installing the first container crane in the Colombo port, the first in Southeast Asia. It was their father the late V P Gnanakone who first started the shipping business in 1960 as a freight broker and shipping agent. The youngest of the brothers, Vasanth Chris Gnanakone sailed with P and O Lines as a cadet officer and later with Crossworld and Neptune Orient Lines before becoming a Master Mariner himself, working closely with his brothers in Singapore and Colombo.

To hear Capt. Charles died peacefully in his sleep says a lot; a rare phenomenon and one that most wish for; shows that he is truly blessed. His imprisonment on a spurious and unfounded charge, later thrown out in court, of collaboration with the LTTE for the alleged killing of Lakshman Kadirgamar must have taken its toll.

For all that he and his family had to endure in the hands of racist elements and by those who found the family to be a threat because of their success (their shops were burned down not once but thrice in 1958, 1977 and 1983 and their shipping business curtailed and partly acquired without any compensation) Capt. Charles was known for his forgiving nature. His deep and abiding faith in God made him a charismatic and pious man. A devout Christian the last e-mail he sent to a friend reads like this:

“When you forgive, you are forgiven. When you comfort others, you are comforted. When you love others, you are loved. When you care for others, you are cared for. When you show mercy to others, you receive mercy. Whatever you want others to do for you, do for them. (Matt 7:12). This is the golden rule of life - to make your life a triumphant and happy one.”

He will be dearly missed!