Cyclone Tauktae: 638 ONGC men rescued, 93 still at sea off Mumbai coast
Cyclone Tauktae: 638 ONGC men rescued, 93 still at sea off Mumbai coast
ByMateen Hafeez,V NarayanMateen Hafeez and V Narayan / Updated: May 19, 2021, 09:19 IST
(This story was first published in the Times of India on May 19, 2021)
Five Indian Navy ships, along with naval helicopters and the Coast Guard, were racing against time to locate and rescue 93 crew members of Barge Papaa (
P-305) who were still missing till late Tuesday night, more than 20 hours after their barge sank 38 nautical miles off the
Mumbai coast in the intervening hours of Monday and Tuesday.
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Five Indian Navy ships, along with naval helicopters and the Coast Guard, were racing against time to locate and rescue 91 crew members of Barge Papaa (P-305) who were still missing till late Tuesday night, more than 20 hours after their barge sank 35 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast in the intervening hours of Monday and Tuesday. A total of 180 survivors from the barge, however, have been rescued.
In the massive search operation that began after four vessels in all two barges off the city’s coast and a barge and drill vessel off Pipavav port in Gujarat went adrift as cyclone Tauktae stormed past India’s western coast, a total of 638 people who were aboard had either been rescued or their vessels taken to safety till Tuesday evening. The security of all the personnel on board the three vessels apart from P-305 had been secured, officials said.