Greatship Rohini fire: 3 trapped crew members found dead

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has recovered the bodies of three crew members who were reported trapped inside the engine room of the ill-fated offshore supply ship ‘Greatship Rohini’ which caught fire on Saturday. The bodies were found on Sunday morning, in a search operation conducted jointly by 19 persons, including eight crew members of Greatship Rohini and 11 members from ICG.

The bodies of two seafarers found from the tween deck area are burnt beyond recognition and a third seafarer found from the engine control room, is reported to have sustained burn injuries, said director general of shipping, Amitabh Kumar.

An inquiry has been ordered and an official of the rank of joint director general, technical (principal officer MMD, Mumbai), will conduct an inquiry, said Kumar. “The cause of the will be known after proper investigation,” added Kumar.

The ship was 92 nautical miles off Mumbai coast when the fire broke out, near the NQO platform of Mumbai High. A total of 18 crew members were on-board the vessel at the time of the incident. The fire started in the engine room. One officer identified as Gurbeender Singh, who works as an electro-technological officer, sustained burn injuries and was evacuated in a chopper and shifted to a hospital. He is out of danger and recuperating in the hospital, said ICG officer.

As soon as the ICG operation centre received information about the fire, offshore patrol vessel Samarth was diverted to provide help. Meanwhile, a Dornier aircraft was launched for assessment of the situation. ICG ship Samarth, with its advanced external fire-fighting system, offshore vessel Priya 27, and several other boats were involved in rescue and boundary cooling operations. The major part of the fire was doused till Saturday late evening, but because of heat, it kept simmering and reigniting. The foam was used last night and today morning to douse the fire completely, said ICG officers.

The coast guard officials and company’s staff members boarded the vessel at 7:30am to resume searching for missing crew members. The search was focused on the tween deck area which, also houses the engine control room. Bodies of three seafarers were found at around 10:30am. The bodies of two seafarers were found from the tween deck area and that of a third seafarer from the engine control room also reported to have sustained burn injuries. The deceased’s family have been informed. The vessel is safe but has a sad part and unfortunately lost three lives, added Kumar.

Greatship Rohini is an offshore supply vessel and assists the ONGC platform. All assisting vessels were there. The Greatship Anjali towed away from the vessel to a safe place from the sensitive installation. So if there is any problem sensitive installation should not damage, added Kumar.