According to reports, 49 bodies have been found so far in the Arabian Sea near the spot where the ill-fated barge ‘P305’ sunk on the intervening night of May 17 and 18 as Cyclone Tauktae ravaged past the country’s western coast.
After more than three days of search by the Navy and Coast Guard, 26 persons are still missing at sea. Hopes of finding any more survivors are slim, but the search will continue as the sea is known to throw up miraculous survivors even days after accidents, sources in the Navy said.
With the recovery of more bodies, the Navy and the Coast Guard continued the search for the 26 personnel missing from the barge and 11 from anchor boat Varaprada.
Taking it to Twitter, Navy spokesperson said, “Barge P305. 188 survivors (including 2 of ex tug Varaprada) and 51 Brave Natures Victims (BNVs) recovered. All survivors and 49 BNVs brought to Mumbai. Indian Navy is coordinating search and rescue ops with ships and aircraft for the remaining crews.”
#CycloneTauktae#Update #SAR Ops
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) May 21, 2021
Barge P305. 188 survivors (incl 2 of ex tug Varaprada) & 51 Brave #NaturesVictims #BNVs recovered.
All survivors & 49 BNVs brought to Mumbai. #IndianNavy coordinating search & rescue ops with ships & aircraft for the remaining crews.@DefPROMumbai
The Indian Navy has deployed six vessels -- INS Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Talwar, INS Beas, INS Betwa and INS Teg, while Coast Guard deployed ICGS Samarth, ICGS Shoor and other offshore patrol vessels for the search operations.
ONGC has also deployed 20 of its vessels to assist the rescue operations, which has also been joined by a vessel of Afcons.
Fifteen helicopters -- seven of ONGC and four each of Navy and Coast Guard -- have been doing sorties to evacuate persons stuck on the five vessels, they said.
The accommodation barge P305 which was servicing ONGC offshore operations sank on Monday evening, May 17 at 7 pm. All those who have been rescued had jumped off the barge as it sank. All were wearing self-illuminating life jackets with a special prop to keep a person’s head above water. The sunken barge was engaged by the Heera oil rig, part of the Bombay High oil rigs, 70 km off Mumbai.
All the 137 personnel on barge GAL Constructor were rescued on Tuesday, May 18, by the Navy and Coast Guard. The 202 personnel on barge SS03 and 101 personnel on board oil rig Sagar Bhushan are safe, the official said.
Cyclone Tauktae is being labelled as one of the most powerful storms to emerge out of the Arabian Sea. It has caused a lot of damage in Mumbai and a lot of trees were uprooted at many places in the city. Moreover, banner hoardings collapsed on vehicles in some parts of Mumbai.
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