A photo released by the Indian Navy shows stranded workers from a barge being airlifted by a Seaking helicopter during an evacuation operation in the Arabian sea. (AFP)
MUMBAI: As many as 26 personnel on board accommodation barge P305 that went adrift in cyclone Tauktae fury before sinking in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast are dead and 49 are still missing, as the navy continued search and rescue operations through the night, an official said on Wednesday.
The navy said its personnel, battling extreme weather, have so far rescued 186 of the 261 people who were onboard barge P305 and also two from tugboat Varaprada. Chances of finding more survivors are looking bleak, an official said.
Cyclone Tauktae: 49 still missing, high-level committee to probe how ONGC vessel was stranded
Cyclone Tauktae: 49 still missing, high-level committee to probe how ONGC vessel was stranded
A high-level committee has been set up by the petroleum ministry to investigate the events that led to an ONGC vessel getting stranded during Cyclone Tauktae on May 17. With 49 people still missing, the Indian Navy’s search and rescue operations are underway.
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UPDATED: May 19, 2021 22:10 IST
The Indian Navy’s search and rescue (SAR) operations continued for the third day on Wednesday. (Photo: Manjit Negi and Abhishek Bhalla / India Today)
After Barge P-305 sank 35 miles off Mumbai on May 17 as Cyclone Tauktae made its way across the western coast, the union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has set up a three-member panel to investigate the events that led to the vessel getting stranded.
MUMBAI: The bodies of 26 personnel on board Barge Papaa (P-305), which sunk amid the fury unleashed by Cyclone Tauktae, were recovered from the Arabian Sea by Indian Navy warships engaged in search and rescue operations through Tuesday and Wednesday. The bodies were found floating 50 to 60 nautical miles (over 90km) off the Mumbai coast. Forty nine crew members are still missing, while 186 have been rescued.
A total of 273 personnel were earlier said to have been on board, but the ONGC, which had deployed the barge, revised the count to 261 on Wednesday. The search operations for the missing 49 will continue, officials said.
But the company did not inform about it, he said.
Bandgar said before they got know about his rescue, his family members kept crying till he called them to inform that he was safe, he said, adding his kin were coming to Mumbai to see him.
Meanwhile, the oil ministry on Wednesday constituted a high-level committee to enquire into the sequence of events leading to the stranding of three vessels of a contractor of ONGC in cyclone Tauktae .
Three barges of Afcons, a contractor working on ONGC fields off the west coast with more than 600 people on board, were stranded in offshore areas during the severe cyclone.
As many as 26 personnel on board accommodation barge P305 that went adrift in Cyclone Tauktae fury before sinking in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast are dead and 49 are still missing, as the Navy continued search and rescue operations through the night, an official said on Wednesday. The Navy said its personnel, battling extreme weather, have so far rescued 186 of the 261 people who were onboard barge P305 and also two from tugboat Varaprada. Chances of finding more survivors are looking bleak, an official said. Altogether 26 bodies have been recovered so far and 49 people who were on the barge P305 which sank on Monday are missing, the official said.