ONGC barge mishap: Death toll up to 51 as blame game intensifies

The operator of the barge may be at fault for the mishap at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) accommodation barge, say ONGC and Afcons International, the contractor of the barge.

The accident claimed 51 lives, and 24 people are still missing. The incident occurred in the early hours of May 17, when Cyclone Tauktae hit Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, where ONGC’s major production installations and drilling rigs are located. The wind speed rose to nearly 150-180 km/hour, with 6-8-metre high waves. Due to a combination of weather factors, four vessels that the ONGC put into service went adrift in the high seas.

With the blame game intensifying on the issue, an ONGC official said that there were 99 floating rigs and barges at the location, and only five were in trouble. This shows that the operators may be at fault, he said.

ONGC claims it had taken all necessary steps and followed all safety protocols after the warning by the Coast Guard. “That’s why around a hundred vessels working in that vicinity have been saved and there is no casualty. The damage occurred only to the three contracted (charter-hired) vessels where safety is the contractor’s responsibility. ONGC had asked them to follow the SOP (standard operating procedure). We are awaiting the findings of the investigation ordered,” said an official.

On the other hand, Afcons International, which is a contractor, is putting the onus on barge owner Durmast and on the master of the barge.

Based on preliminary findings, there were 342 installations -- 243 fixed and 99 floating -- in the region. Around 7,675 people were working there. Following the warnings by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and ONGC, 94 out of 99 vessels shifted to safe locations at sea and ashore.

“Based on the weather warning, ONGC activated its emergency response system and instructed all installations to take action as per the SOP. Complying with the same, appropriate actions, including staying at safe mode or returning to safe locations to the anchoring points, were taken by the respective installations. Out of 7,675 personnel, 6,961 stayed safe at respective locations. However, the remaining five vessels (carrying 714 personnel) faced adverse situation,” said a source.

There were 261 people in vessel P305. So far, only 186 have been rescued. The other vessels were Support Station-3 (202 workers), Sagar Bhushan (101 workers), Gal Constructor (137 people) and Varaprada anchor, handling a boat of Gal Constructor carrying 13 personnel. Out of the 13, two were rescued while search for remaining 11 is on. Interestingly, out of the five vessels involved, Sagar Bhushan is owned by ONGC.

While ONGC is blaming the operator, Afcons says the barge operation is the duty of its owner, Durmast Enterprises, and the master of P305, Balwinder Singh. It reportedly said that the master decided to move the barge only 200 metres away from the platform where it was operating. despite other vessels moving to safer locations. The master might have anticipated it to be a tropical storm, said a source.