The Indian Navy has intensified its search operations in the Arabian Sea to look for missing people after Barge "P305" near the Bombay High off-shore oil rigs sank because of Cyclone Tauktae. A total of 273 people were on board the barge at the time. Some 184 people have been rescued so far.
According to officials, the naval vesseld Beas, Betwa, and Teg have joined INS Kochi and Kolkata to undertake search and rescue (SAR) operations for Barge "P305", which sank 35 nautical miles from Mumbai.
"184 people have been rescued, operations are still continuing by Naval ships and aircraft. We're still looking out for people in the area. The conditions, right now, have improved", Captain Sachin Sequeira, the commanding officer of the INS Kochi told the media.
89 still missing after Barge 305 with 273 onboard sunk #TauktaeCyclone
— Abhishek Bhalla (@AbhishekBhalla7) May 19, 2021
184 personnel rescued so far.
INS Kochi & INS Kolkata returning to Mumbai harbour with those rescued
INS Teg, INS Betwa, INS Beas, P8I aircraft & Seaking Helos continuing with Search & Rescue Ops. pic.twitter.com/m4epITQrng
#CycloneTauktae #Update#INSKochi entering Mumbai harbour today morning alongwith rescued personnel from Barge P305.
— PRO Defence Mumbai (@DefPROMumbai) May 19, 2021
INS Teg, INS Betwa, INS Beas P8I aircraft & Seaking Helos continuing with Search & Rescue Ops.@indiannavy @SpokespersonMoD @DDNewslive @PIB_India @airnewsalerts pic.twitter.com/jkBY5DnJeI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat and Diu today to review the damage caused by Cyclone Tauktae that swept across the country's western coast.
Late Monday night, the state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) said that "barge P305 with 273 personnel deployed for offshore drilling got de-anchored and began drifting because of the cyclonic storm Tauktae".
Barge "P305" was put to work at the Bombay High Oil Rig in the Arabian Sea by a consortium headed by Afcons Infrastructure Ltd – part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group that takes contracts for ONGC.
The Indian Navy is also working on finding and rescuing two other barges and another ONGC drilling ship named Sagar Bhushan that went adrift in the sea because of the cyclone.
