P305, Varaprada rescue ops: Navy sends specialised diving groups to hint lacking crew
The Indian Navy on Saturday deployed specialised diving groups in a bid to hint the 15 personnel from barge P305 and 11 from tugboat Varaprada who’ve been lacking now for six days since Cyclone Tauktae rendered the vessels adrift.
“To augment the ongoing SAR ops for the missing crew of Barge P305 and Tug Varaprada, specialised diving teams onboard INS Makar with side-scan sonar and INS Tarasa sailed out early morning today from Mumbai,” a Navy spokesperson tweeted.
#CycloneTauktae #ReplaceTo increase the continuing #SAR ops for the lacking crew of Barge P305 & Tug Varapradha, specialised diving groups onboard #INSMakar with aspect scan sonar & #INSTarasa have sailed out early morning at present from #Mumbai.@DefenceMinIndia @indiannavy @mygovindia pic.twitter.com/GNoS1dyHIe
— PRO Defence Mumbai (@DefPROMumbai) May 22, 2021
As many as 60 personnel of barge P305 have died after the barge sank within the Arabian Sea. At least 11 our bodies had been recovered by the Navy on Friday. Of the 261 personnel who had been on barge P305, 186 have been rescued, whereas 13 individuals on Varaprada have been saved.
The Mumbai Police has registered a case of negligence towards the captain of the barge following a criticism by an engineer. Mumbai Police Spokesperson DCP S Chaitanya stated, “The captain of the barge acted negligently on the warnings issued related to Cyclone Tauktae and that allegedly led to the mishap, due to which we have registered an offence. We have so far mentioned the barge’s captain and others in the FIR, and on the basis of the findings of the investigation, we will book more officials.”
Barge P305 was a vessel doing work for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) off the coast of Mumbai. It had damaged freed from its anchor shortly after midnight on May 16 as a result of high-speed winds and a uneven sea.
Two ships of the Indian Navy, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata, three coast guard vessels, and 14 different vessels owned by ONGC and chartered vessels are at the moment finishing up the rescue mission.
