Coast guard rescues 47 crew members from barge Gal Constructor off Palghar coast

The Indian Navy has deployed three warships in high sea for search and rescue (SAR) assistance of two ships — barge P305 and barge GAL Constructor — with 410 people on board, after they were stranded in Bombay High due to Cyclone Tauktae on Monday afternoon.

The coast guard on Tuesday rescued 47 crew members onboard the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) barge named Gal Constructor which was drifting north after it lost power due to Cyclone Tauktae. The barge, which had around 137 crew members onboard, was at about 48 nautical miles north off Colaba while rescue operations continued, said coast guard officials.

The rescue was made near Vadrai in Satpati in Maharashtra’s Palghar district with the help of two choppers in Maharashtra's Palghar district.

The rescue was made near Vadrai in Satpati in Maharashtra’s Palghar district with the help of two choppers. More sorties will be made to rescue the remaining 90 crew onboard, said a senior coast guard official. A Naval chopper has also been pressed into service to airlift the crew, said Coast Guard chief public relations officer (CPRO) commander Mehul Karnik.

He said two Chetak choppers from the coast guard’s base at Daman swung into action and reached the spot along with coast guard ship Samrat amidst very rough and inclement weather conditions due to the cyclone.

The Indian Navy has deployed three warships in high sea for search and rescue (SAR) assistance of two ships — barge P305 and barge GAL Constructor — with 410 people on board, after they were stranded in Bombay High due to Cyclone Tauktae on Monday afternoon. INS Kochi, INS Kolkata and INS Talwar have been pressed into carrying out the rescue operations.

Barge P305 went adrift off Heera Oil Fields in the Bombay High area on Monday when the cyclone hit the area. After getting an alert from the barge, the navy launched the rescue operation, which is still going on. About 150 out of the 273 people on-board P305 have been rescued while the remaining were on life jacket support and efforts were being made to rescue them.

The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) were on high alert as severe cyclonic storm Tauktae passed the Mumbai coast to hit Gujarat coast in Saurashtra region between Diu and Una on Tuesday.