INS Kochi, the warship of Indian Navy, entered the Mumbai harbour on Wednesday morning, carrying 125 rescued personnel from Barge P305.
Due to the cyclonic storm ‘Tauktae’ wreaking havoc, an accommodation barge P305 had begun to sink in the rough sea. However, INS Kochi received a distressed call and within an hour, sailed towards the Bombay High field to rescue 184 people from the barge. Two more were rescued during the search and rescue (SAR) operation.
61 other people rescued will be brought by the other ships engaged in the SAR operation. INS Teg, INS Betwa, INS Beas , P8I aircraft and Sea-king Helos are continuing with the SAR operations.
Captain Sachin Sequeira, the commanding officer of INS Kochi, said, “My ship has come back with 125 of the 184 persons rescued so far from P305”.
“The operating conditions during the ongoing search and rescue at sea are tough with wind speeds of almost 90-100 kmph and waves as high as 9-10 metres”, he informed the media.
INS Kochi had set sail from the city on Monday morning to rescue the workmen from P305 in the Heera oil drilling platform, around 70 km off the Mumbai coast. “Had inputs that Barge P305 was in distress, approx 35-40 miles from Mumbai. The ship sailed under very difficult conditions, storm was passing just passing west of Mumbai. As we arrived on the scene we took charge of the situation,” said Captain Sequeira.
“With others on site, we rendered the best possible assistance for the barge and crew. The ops are still ongoing. We have a large number of naval units on site. My ship has just come back. About 184 people have been rescued, of which 125 are onboard my ship,” he added.
Manoj Jha, Western commander of Naval operations, said that, if needed, INS Kochi will repeat its SAR operation to rescue more people.
iTV Network spoke exclusively to some of the survivors. Some were happy to be back on land while others were still in a state of fright after hours of struggle and waiting to be rescued. Many of the rescued were seen with food containers. The injured were being provided medical assistance.
“It was dark and raining continuously. We kept praying for our survival,” said one of the survivors. Many of them had to survive the dangerous sea for around 8-10 hours.
The INS Kochi brought them to Mumbai from where they were sent to the Navy base and their families were informed.