AHMEDABAD: Averting a P-305-like disaster where 75 lives were dropped after it capsized in the Arabian Sea hours following cyclone Tauktae struck on the Mumbai coast on May 17, the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and ONGC successfully spared three boats which had drifted away Mumbai and attained Gulf of Khambhat. There were approximately 330 team members on board drilling boat Sagar Bhushan, barge Service Station 3, and also storage tanker Desh Bhakt. Sagar Bhushan was drifting into the northern path with rate of four knots. ONGC’s self-propelled rig, taking 101 employees, was anchored off Mumbai coast. Yet, strong winds brought on by cyclone Tauktae broke the boat loose from the own eight anchors, and damaged the rudder. “Sagar Bhushan was close to land. A flat-bottomed boat, it was no ability to propel and may have broken in 2 had it had been grounded. It was a spectacular moment with all the sea becoming tough and the place lurks in darkness. From the period of time, we commanded the operations and introduced her into the protection of Mumbai harbour,” explained a senior defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The choice of taking the boat to neighboring Pipavav Port was ruled out since the region had been severely hit by the cyclone. He explained that unlike in the event of Barge P-305, in which an accident had torn a hole, the 3 boats in Gujarat were at a much safer place. Gujarat Maritime Board was likewise part of the rescue procedure using Captain Ashwin Solanki, the main nautical officer, monitoring the vessels out of the control area and co-ordinating together with all the concerned agencies. Tugboat Triton Liberty out of Mumbai High was accommodation barge Service Station 3 (SS03). The cyclone resulted in flood at the steering platform of Triton Liberty even as SS03, with all 202 employees on boardcontinued to float towards Gulf of Khambhat. Overall, ONGC discharged roughly eight crafts to perform rescue operations in Gujarat. On May 18, INS Talwar attained SS03 and attempted to move crew members utilizing a life raft. Yet strong winds and rough seas prevented this. Finally, tugboats were employed to tow it into Mumbai. The two boats passed via Tapti oil area and any significant injury might have resulted in oil spill in the region, stated a GMB official. The crafts discharged by ONGC comprised tugboats Cheel, Great Ship Anjali, SCI Urja, Ababeel along with MSV Samudra Sevak, Amongst Others. “ONGC vessels, together with the Indian Navy, were a part of these search-and-rescue operations until the finish,” stated an ONGC official. Still another vessel Desh Bhakt, also a storage tanker by Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) in Panna Oilfield away Mumbai, had awakened in the anchor sockets and has been drifting towards Gulf of Khambhat on May 17. It dropped all communications using SCI. The boat reached Mumbai safely May 18 with all the help in the GMB and Indian Coast Guard. “There were instances when these ships had been at risk of capsizing mid-sea. It believed that abandoning the boat was the only means to conserve the team members. Nevertheless, the Indian Navy believed it’d be premature to do so,” explained the defence employees. ONGC includes 342 offshore setups with 243 of those being mended, unmanned systems which can not move but may be procured. The 99 bronchial setups contain barges, vessels and springs, amongst others. Of these, 94 had transferred to safer lands following advisory in the authorities about the coming storm. Of those 7,665 individuals working abroad, 6,700 had transferred into safer zones and so were secure except for people on 3-4 barges and tugboats,” said resources in ONGC.
Gujarat: Three Boats Recovered from Tauktae fury
