Survivors of P-305, Srikanth Kar and Monu Kumar talk about the hours they fought battle with nature as Cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc in the Arabian Sea“I was in the Arabian Sea for almost 16 hours, all alone before being rescued on May 18,” says Srikanth Kar.
Kar, 40, hails from Jajpur district in Odisha and was stationed onboard Barge Papaa–305 since November 2020.
Remembering his battle with nature as Cyclone Tauktae wreaked havoc, Kar says that he believes it was the good deeds of his parents and loved ones that kept him alive.
“I had no hope.
I thought I don’t have a chance to live.
The sea was turbulent.
I was all alone in the sea for almost 16 hours fighting waves around 15-20 metres high.
I feel that I fought a war with nature and came home.
Hope was my only constant support.
I believe, friends and colleagues who kept their mind strong, have come back home.
We have lost many to the cyclone,” Kar said.
Kar, who worked with Mathew Associates Hook up and Weld Services, is a Hydro technician.
“The INS Kochi came to our rescue on the night of May 17.
We had made a human chain and were floating in the water.
While some men could board INS Kochi, I got washed up further due to the turbulent sea.
I was later found by Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) Energy in the morning around 8 am on May 18,” he remembered.
I had no hope.
I thought I don’t have a chance to live.
The sea was turbulent.
I was all alone in the sea for almost 16 hours fighting waves around 15-20 metres high.
I feel that I fought a war with nature and came home.
Hope was my only constant support.
I believe, friends and colleagues who kept their mind strong, have come back home.
We have lost many to the cyclone.Srikanth Kar, Survivor of P-305The brave survivor also recalled that they were informed on May 14 about the weather condition.
While two other barges of his company moved to the shore, Papaa 305 moved a little further but anchored in the field.
He said that it was the decision of the management.
Another survivor Monu Kumar (27) who was hired by Mathew Associates, faced the fury of nature in the sea on May 16.
He was also onboard P-305 which was anchored near an unmanned platform in Heera oil fields.
Kumar worked as a welder in the barge.
“There were two other ships and they returned to the shore.
But our captain didn’t return.
The cyclone came that night with a wind speed of approximately 165 km/hour.
The waves were around 12-16 metres high.
We were all in the room and locked the doors,” he said.
We didn’t have any life raft with us.
We were hoping someone would come and save us.
The Indian Navy and OSV rescued the men in the sea.
But they couldn’t come near our barge due to the rough waters.
We jumped in the sea just minutes before it sank.
We made a human chain of 18 people and kept floating in the water.
Luckily, we came near the OSV Energy and were rescued.Monu Kumar, P-305 SurvivorKumar said that the anchors of the vessel snapped one after another in a matter of hours.
“The barge had eight anchors of 10 tonnes each.
The gale-force winds snapped all anchors of the vessel around 8 am and it hit another platform.
As P-305 hit another platform, it created a hole in the back.
No one could even go to fix it.
As the water started gushing in, an announcement was made for us to get prepared to abandon the barge,” said Kumar who lives in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzzafarnagar.
Kumar recalled that after wearing the life jackets, they moved to the other side of the barge to abandon it.
However, they found out that the life rafts were punctured.
“We launched around six life rafts and people started getting in.
But we found that all of them were punctured.
In the first life raft, around 17 men got in.
But then, few people started climbing back on the ship.
The emergency ladder also broke as people were hanging from it.
I don’t know where they all went in the sea,” he said.
He further added that they remained on the barge till the last minute.
“We didn’t have any life raft with us.
We were hoping someone would come and save us.
The Indian Navy and OSV rescued the men in the sea.
But they couldn’t come near our barge due to the rough waters.
We jumped in the sea just minutes before it sank.
We made a human chain of 18 people and kept floating in the water.
Luckily, we came near the OSV Energy and were rescued.” Read AlsoMumbai: Identification of bodies of ill-fated barge P305 through DNA reports beginsThe identification of bodies of ill-fated barge #P305 through DNA reports has begun.The 27-year-old further adds that he had left all hope of staying alive.
“I had no hope.
When I jumped into the sea, I thought we had no option but to jump.
It was raining heavily and the wind speed was also very high.
The Indian Navy officers rescued us,” Kumar said.
Both Kumar and Kar said that they received a cheque of Rs 1 lakh from ONGC in their home town.
While ONGC officers visited their place, no one from their company Mathew Associates Hook up and Weld Services and M/s Afcons (which was working on the project in the Western Offshore fields in the Arabian Sea) contacted them.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Police has booked the captain of P305 Rakesh Ballav and others for culpable homicide, causing grievous hurt and negligence.
Ballav (52) was earlier reported to be missing.
However, his wife and brother identified his decomposed body recovered on May 24.
Watch Scared yet strong; brave survivors of P-305 tell their survival story
Brave Lands of P-305 tell their Tales
