ONGC mid-sea mishap: 86 dead; 188 rescued; tug boat Varaprada located

The largest mid-sea rescue mission in Indian waters by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard after the mishap at state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) contractor's accommodation barge Papaa-305 (P-305) and tugboat Varaprada is almost set to end soon.

Out of the 274 people missing, including 261 from P-305 and 13 from Varaprada, on May 17, 188 were rescued. Seventy bodies were recovered during the initial search-and-rescue operation. Out of the remaining 16 people, eight bodies were reportedly recovered along the coast at Raigarh district in Maharashtra and eight Brave Nature's Victim (BNVs) were found along the Gujarat coast near Valsad in the last 24 hours.

Thus, all missing 274 crew members have been accounted for. On May 24 morning, tug Varaprada was located during an underwater search by INS Makar. “Diving is in progress to locate trapped BNVs, if any,” he said.

How did it happen?

In the early hours of May 17, Cyclone Tauktae hit the Arabian Sea off the coast of Mumbai, where ONGC’s major production installations and drilling rigs are located. Three construction barges of Afcons working on an ONGC project in Western Offshore fields in the Arabian Sea and one floater drilling rig were severely affected.

When all the anchors of the P-305 gave way, it started drifting and hit an unmanned platform of ONGC, resulting in water ingress, and it eventually capsized around 5 pm on May 17.

“ONGC OSVs (Offshore Supply Vessels) were immediately pressed into service for rescue operations, along with INS Kochi and INS Kolkata of the Indian Navy and a Coast Guard vessel. ONGC, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard are continuing the extensive search- and-rescue operations,” ONGC said in a statement.

The ONGC management has extended an immediate relief of Rs 1 lakh to the survivors and Rs 2 lakh to the BNVs. The ministry of petroleum and natural gas has already constituted a three-member panel to look into the sequence of events that led to the sinking of the vessel. The committee includes Amitabh Kumar, director-general of shipping; SCL Das, director-general of Hydrocarbons; and, Nazli Jafri Shayin, joint secretary with the ministry of defence. The committee would examine whether warnings issued by the meteorological department were adequately considered and acted upon.