Taukate storm: know how 638 people of ONGC got trapped in beach, 93 still missing- P305 Rescue Mission News: Due to cyclone ‘Tautkae’, four boats went astray in the sea due to bad weather and heavy rains. Papa barge (P-305) drowned out of these. Out of the 273 people on board, 180 have been rescued, but the struggle is on to trace the remaining 93 and make them safe.
Helicopters, an Indian Navy ship in the Arabian Sea, are on the lookout for 93 people aboard the P305 barge who jumped into the sea wearing a life jacket before it sank. The barge sank about 35 nautical miles (about 65 km) from Mumbai. There were a total of 273 people on the barge, out of which 180 have been rescued. In addition, three more vessels had wandered into the sea.
A large scale search and rescue operation was launched for a total of four vessels (two barges off Mumbai coast, one barge diverted from Piparao port in Gujarat) and one drillship. All four were engaged in repairing one of the offshore platforms of ONGC at Bombay High. Let’s try to understand how the people on board got trapped in the sea.
Where were these four vessels in the sea?
273 people were present on P305. Its location was about 70 km from Mumbai. When the cyclone arrived, this barge was anchored near the diamond oil field of Bombay High. The anchor of the barge broke and it got stuck in the sea. Its crew jumped into the sea wearing life jackets before it drowned on Monday night. By Tuesday evening, 180 people had been rescued.
There were 137 people on the GAL constructor. It was 38 nautical miles from Palghar. Like the P305, it too wandered into the sea. All crew have been rescued.
There were a total of 220 people at the Support Station 3, including 196 crew. The location was 15–20 nautical miles from Pipavav port in Gujarat. It managed to insert the anchor after the barge went astray. All crew safe.
Sagar Bhushan 101 people were present on the drillship. Its location is also said to be 15–20 nautical miles from Pipavav. The drillship was wandering by Tuesday evening, although the situation seemed stable.
Did Cyclone change the way or…?
Sources said that the ‘master’ present at each vessel decides to take all the warnings into consideration. After receiving the input of the weather, the master decides how many nautical miles away from the path of the cyclone would be safe. A former ONGC executive said that in such a situation, saving lives is a priority, not infrastructure.
People in the company said that Cyclone changed its course and the pressure suddenly decreased, making the situation far more difficult than it was anticipated. However, people associated with the Meteorological Department say that adequate warnings were given about the intensity of cyclone. Cyclones often change their path and that is why error margins are taken into account when deciding the safe distance.
A former member of the barge stated that an accommodation vessel is nearly as tall as a three-story building. Each barge has 8 anchors which are about 3-4 kilometers long. They take several days to lift because they are pulled from other ships and then placed on the barge. This method is adopted while anchoring.
After the review, you will have to find answers to these questions
Ved Prakash Mahawar, former director of ONGC said, “Suppose a well is being dug at a depth of 4,000 feet. You cannot stop and go from there. It is necessary to secure the well and the dill has to be pulled out so that any larger Let the accident not happen. ONGC’s drillship ‘Sagar Bhushan’ was ready and it lost its anchor when it broke its anchor. ” He said that the P-305 drowned because it collided with a platform after wandering.
So the question arises that did the crew follow the protocols made for such a situation? Was there not enough time to move the barge? Was the information insufficient? Or, given the way the number of cyclones is increasing, the protocols need to be updated? We have to find answers to all these questions.
