Barge P305 crew members rescued by Navy walk out of INS Kochi after arriving in Mumbai
New Delhi: The ill-fated Afcons barge Papaa (P-305) moved only 200 metres away from the unmanned offshore platform off Bombay High where it was working, a distance the vessel’s master appears to have considered safe as per projections of cyclone Tauktae’s wind speed and depression, Afcons, which had chartered the vessel for an ONGC contract, said in a statement on Thursday.
Going by the statement, it now appears the barge would not have capsized had it moved further away and had the master considered a bigger margin for error in predicting cyclones that are known to be fickle and can change projected course and ferocity.
The death toll from the barge P305 that sank rose to 49 with the recovery of more bodies even as the navy and Coast Guard searched for 37 other missing people
MUMBAI: The committee led by the Director General of Shipping inquiring into the sinking of barge P-305 suspects the captain or barge owner miscalculated and jeopardized lives of the 261 crew members by not moving the barge to a safer location ahead of cyclone Tauktae. Some crew members said they had requested that P-305 be moved closer to the Mumbai shore when the cyclone warning came in.
Chief engineer Rahman Shaikh (48), who is currently recuperating at Apollo Hospital here after being rescued, said, “I informed captain Balwinder Singh about the warnings but he did not pay heed. I also tried to communicate with the barge owner, but they asked us to continue working. The barge was never moved to a safer location, though PR companies hired by Afcons may claim it was. When I tried to communicate with the tugboat that is used to tow the barge, we learnt it had already moved from the location.”
Published on: Friday, May 21, 2021
By: AFP
Residents deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Tauktae, in Mahuva.
AHMEDABAD: A major new storm was brewing in the Bay of Bengal off India’s east coast on Thursday, forecasters warned just days after the biggest cyclone to hit the west of the country in decades left at least 110 people confirmed dead.
Scientists say cyclones in the densely-populated region, currently reeling from coronavirus, are becoming both more frequent and stronger as climate change leads to warmer sea temperatures.
Even before Cyclone Tauktae hammered the coast late Monday, torrential downpours at its outer bands and strong winds killed around 20 people in western and southern India.
Captain of barge P-305 ignored tauktae cyclone warning sandesh.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sandesh.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.