Seven sailors have died in past five days as high tides coupled with stormy weather rocked the merchant vessels sailing on the Arabian Sea.
MUMBAI: Seven sailors have died in past five days as high tides coupled with stormy weather rocked the merchant vessels sailing on the Arabian Sea.
"Due to the depression formed in the Bay of Bengal on Friday evening, stormy conditions developed on the Arabian Sea. There were ten instances of ships grounded off west coast in which seven sailors have died," Chief Staff Officer (Operations), Coast Guard Region (West), Commandant Kalpit Dikshit said.
Eighty-six people were injured in these incidents, he added.
Two crew members were killed and 21 rescued from the cargo vessel that partially sank near Tannirbhavi beach, about 13 km away from Mangalore on Friday night.
"Rescue teams that swung into action to rescue 24 crew members trapped onboard the sunken 'Den Den' vessel have retrieved two bodies and brought safely ashore 21 members," Dikshit said.
The cargo vessel, owned by a company in Eritrea in Africa and loaded with Furnace Oil Slag, was on its way to Dubai from New Mangalore Port Trust.
The ship while on its onward journey developed technical snag after its engines failed at Panambur beach and high velocity winds pushed it towards Tannirbhavi where it sank.
On Saturday, one tug called Wimbo coming from Maldives, capsized off in Calicut. It had 11 crew members. Eight of them were rescued. Two dead bodies were recovered. One is still missing.
"Our fixed wing aircraft Donear was pressed into service along with a helicopter. But the incremental weather hampered our rescue operations," he said.
On Sunday, two tugs Krishna I and Krishna II towing two barges Radhika I and II off Mumbai coast had parted. The barges were drifting.
The crew of the first tug Krishna II jumped on the their life boat, which overturned due to the excess load. However, the 10 crew members were rescued.
Regarding Krishna I, except the captain, all 13 crew members jumped into the sea. While five were rescued by Coast Guard and Mumbai Port Trust, seven came ashore. One dead body was found near Colaba. The captain was found dead inside the vessel, Dikshit said.
Strong winds blowing over 100km per hour, grounded two cargo ships near Porbandar on Monday.
"While one of the ships, MV Arcadia, which had come to Porbandar from the Mundra port drifted ashore near Subhasnagar area of Porbandar, the other, Shuja-III, loaded with iron pipes from Panama drifted near Radti village, around 20 kms from Porbandar town," Dikshit said.
The coast guard with the help of helicopters, initiated rescue operations and have successfully rescued all 29 crew members on board Shuja-III.
The condition on Shuja-III is bad. We are watching it closely. The presence of fuel onboard could cause damage to the environment in case of oil spill, he said.
"Some of these lives could have been saved had the sailor taken our help. They refused to come with us hoping the situation will improve. In stead, the conditions worsened. This hampered our rescue operations. Life is paramount, the stranded sailors must understand," Dikshit said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}