On May 17, tropical cyclone "Taute" struck India. Many ships were wrecked off the coast of Mumbai. One of them sank, causing about 700 people to be trapped at sea. So far, 37 people have died and 38 people are still missing.
India’s state-owned oil and gas company (ONGC) announced that “Taute” attacked the company’s main production facilities and drilling platforms. The wrecked ships included three multi-purpose residential construction barges “P305”, “Gal Constructor”, and “Gal Constructor”. "Support Station-3" and a drilling ship "Saga Bhushan".
Among them, the "P305" capsized on the afternoon of May 17. The ship was located in the Bombay High oil field near Mumbai. The oil field is about 70 kilometers southwest of Mumbai and has the largest offshore drilling platform in India. "P305" itself had no power, lost control in the storm and hit the drilling platform. "P305" sank in water around 19:00 local time.
The "P305" was a lodging ship with 261 people on board at the time. Among them, the Indian Navy had rescued 186 survivors. So far, 37 bodies have been found, but 38 workers are still missing. On May 18, 125 of the 186 rescued persons, along with the remains of some of the victims, were transported back to Mumbai by the Indian naval destroyer "INS Kochi".
Manoj Gite (19 years old), a rescued worker on the "P305", said in an interview with Indian media that the situation on the barge was terrible. When the barge began to sink, he and other workers jumped into the water wearing a life jacket. He was in the water. After swimming for 7 to 8 hours, he was finally rescued by the navy.
Another rescued worker said that an official on the barge claimed that the tropical cyclone was “not big” and that “this official is missing now. We tried to find him but we did not find him”. Other workers said that they had been swimming in the water for about 12 hours before they were rescued by the Navy.
At the same time, the Indian naval destroyers "INS Kochi", "INS Kolkata", "INS Teg", "INS Betwa" and "INS Beas" are continuing their search and rescue work together with aircraft and helicopters.
According to International Shipping Network, the "P305" and the other two barges "Gal Constructor" and "Support Station-3" are all owned by the engineering company Afcons and leased to ONGC. It is understood that Afcons belongs to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group of India. Founded in 1865, the group is a global diversified organization with leading positions in engineering and construction, infrastructure, real estate, water, energy, and financial services. In 2000, Shapoorji Pallonji Group acquired Afcons.
It is reported that the "Gal Constructor" was carrying 137 people and was rescued safely on May 18. "Support Station-3" was carrying 201 people, and was towed back to Mumbai by ONGC's support ship together with the drilling ship "Saga Bhushan" carrying 101 people. There were no casualties on the two ships.
With the assistance of the Coast Guard and ONGC, the Indian Navy launched a large-scale all-weather rescue operation. However, due to the continued strong storms and rains in the sea area where the incident occurred, it caused great inconvenience to search and rescue work. Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Indian Navy, said that this was one of the most challenging search and rescue operations in the past 40 years.
The southern and western coastal areas of India were hit by the worst tropical cyclone "Taut" in more than two decades. "Taute" landed in Gujarat on the evening of May 17, with a maximum wind speed of 185 kilometers per hour, destroying many coastal villages. Mumbai Airport was also closed for several hours.
In the latest news, the Indian Ministry of Petroleum has set up a team to investigate the ONGC ship stranding.
