Mumbai: Cause of boat mishap yet to be ascertained

Almost a month after a boat carrying 25 people onboard to the construction site of Shivaji Memorial off the Arabian Sea at Nariman Point capsised killing one due to drowning, the preliminary cause behind the mishap is yet not ascertained.

The Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) conducting investigations is yet to conclude the preliminary investigations. The MMB says it is in the process of recreating the whole scenario to ascertain what led to the accident.

On October 24, a group of around 25 people from Gateway of India were sailing onboard a speedboat heading to the construction site of Shivaji Memorial when the speedboat capsised after it hit a rock presumably. Out of 25 people, around 24 were rescued and one drowned.

Post the accident, the MMB was asked to conduct a probe into the same along with Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) also conducting a probe citing it handling sailing off Gateway of India.

Further an initial inspection and probe by MMB it was assumed that the boat had hit the rock and a bruise was seen below the boat that allowed water to enter inside boat resulting in capsising of the boat.

Vikram Kumar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) MMB said, "The preliminary investigations are ongoing and we think that preliminary cause behind the accident should be known in the next one week. The captain of the speedboat is now out of the hospital and his questioning will be undertaken along with it a questionnaire is also sent to the private operator."