Battling extreme weather, the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have so far rescued 319 people on board two barges that went adrift in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai hours before Cyclone Tauktae made landfall on the Gujarat coast, an official said on Tuesday.
Three barges and an oil rig with 707 personnel on board had gone adrift on Monday. These included accommodation barge P305 with 273 persons, cargo barge GAL Constructor with 137 personnel on board, accommodation barge SS-3 with 196 personnel on board and the Sagar Bhushan oil rig with 101 personnel on board, a Navy official said.
While all the 137 people on board the cargo barge GAL Constructor have been rescued, 182 of the 273 onboard P305 have been rescued so far, the official said. There is no word yet on the progress of rescue operations for the accommodation barge SS-3 and the Sagar Bhushan oil rig. All 137 crew of barge Gal Constructor which had gone adrift under the impact of Cyclone Tauktae were successfully rescued and are safely ashore. The rescue mission is accomplished, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) informed on Tuesday.
A Coast Guard helicopter Chetak operating from Coast Guard Air Station Daman rescued the crew from the stranded ship at sea off Satpati GAL Constructor. Another Chetak helicopter operating from Coast Guard Air Enclave Goa winched up and rescued two distressed and stranded employees of Light House Authority from Vengrula Lighthouse, 38 Nautical miles North of Vasco. According to ICG, the lighthouse had a total power failure and was badly damaged due to high-speed wind and rough weather conditions at sea.
Meanwhile, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) said all drifted vessels, except barge P305, were taken in control, and their crew is safe. Indian Navy and ONGC are actively engaged in rescuing the crew of vessel barge P305, and 182 people have been rescued so.
The Indian Navy had deployed three warships in high sea for search and rescue (SAR) assistance of the two ships—barge P305 and barge GAL Constructor—with 410 people on board, after they were stranded in Bombay High due to Cyclone Tauktae on Monday afternoon. INS Kochi, INS Kolkata and INS Talwar had been pressed into carrying out the rescue operations.
Navy ships were deployed on Monday after receipt of a request for assistance for barge ‘P305’ adrift off Heera oil fields in Bombay high area with 273 personnel on board. The oil fields are around 70 km southwest of Mumbai.
Four Coast Guard vessels, two Navy ships and one merchant vessel were deployed to rescue the four barges, which serve as living quarters for men working on several offshore rigs of the oil PSU. The four vessels began sending distress signals after getting caught in Cyclone Tauktae to the Coast Guard, shipping ministry control room and their own control room.
Earlier, Indian navy rescued Satish Narwahal who was on barge P305. He was working on the barge as a technical assistant, and his right hand has been injured, he told The Sunday Guardian. According to a Satish Narwahal, the anchor of the ship was destroyed due to the heavy wind and rainfall on Saturday. The ship had started sinking and all of them jumped into the water. He was in the Arabian Sea with the support of a life jacket. After 18 hours, the Indian Navy rescued him, he said.
The Sunday Guardian spoke to the Sandeep Singh who was a cook on barge P305. Sandeep said that due to the gusty winds, the ship was moving in 90 degrees and it was difficult for them to even hold a rope. When the water came inside the barge, all of them jumped into the water. He has no idea about his other friends who are still missing. GAl constructor technician Pramod said the anchor of the ship was damaged due to the cyclone. The lower deck of the ship was filled with water and all of them went in to the upper deck as even the engine room had been filled with water. They were praying for their life. They were on a sinking ship for 21 hours when the Coast Guard rescued them.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS