3 trapped crew members of Greatship Rohini found dead in search operation

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

An official of the rank of joint director general, technical (principal officer MMD, Mumbai) who is trained to conduct such investigation, will conduct an inquiry into the incident, said director general of shipping, Amitabh Kumar. “The engine room fire can be for any reason. Normally it happens when any work is being done and that will only be known when proper investigation is done in this case,” added Kumar.

Bodies of two seafarers were found from the tween-deck area, burnt beyond recognition and the third body with burn injuries was found from the engine control room, said Kumar.

The ship was 92 nautical miles off Mumbai coast when the fire broke out, near the NQO platform of Mumbai High. 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 hospital. He is out of danger and recuperating in the hospital, said an ICG official.

After 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 by Saturday late evening but because of the heat it kept simmering and reigniting. Foam was used last night and today morning to douse the fire completely, said ICG officials.

The coast guard officials and company’s staff members boarded the vessel at 7:30am to search for missing crew members. The search was focused on the tween-deck area which also houses the engine control room and the three dead seafarers were found at around 10:30am. The families of the victims have been informed. The vessel is safe, added Kumar.

Greatship Rohini is an offshore supply vessel and assists the ONGC platform. It was towed away to a safe place from the sensitive installation by another vessel, Greatship Anjali, said Kumar.