P-305 Rescue: Navy rescues after hours of drowning in roaring sea, crew describes with wet eyes

- All were somehow surviving in the ocean between life and death with the help of life jackets

New delhi date. Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Trapped for several hours amidst the surging waves of the sea, his eyes filled with tears when the crew member of the barge P-305 reached the shores of Mumbai. After the Indian Navy ship INS Kochi reached the shore carrying 184 people, ONGC personnel described their desperate giving. They were all somehow surviving in the ocean between life and death with the help of life jackets. The crew members thanked the Navy and said, "Thank you very much." Because of them, we are living today, otherwise no one would have survived.

We just gave up hope ...

"Our condition was very bad," said a crew member aboard the bus. It is the Indian Navy that has rescued us from there. The Army picked us up from a submerged barge at 2:00 p.m. We people wandered around for about 12 hours but there was no one to rescue. We gave up hope of survival. It was very difficult to escape. Only they know how he saved us.

Another said he swam in the ocean for 5-6 hours and then fainted. In that situation, the navy rescued us by throwing ropes. The man's arm was slightly amputated during the rescue. P-305 crew member Amit Kumar Kushwaha said he had to jump into the sea when the barge was sinking. They floated at sea for 11 hours and were later rescued by the Navy.

#WATCH | A crew member of Barge P305 breaks down while speaking of Indian Navy's rescue operations. He was rescued by INS Kochi and brought to Mumbai.

A total of 184 people have been rescued so far, search and rescue operations are still going on. #CycloneTauktae pic.twitter.com/7e8JU3zcT5

- ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2021

Find out what the sea conditions were

Capt. Sachin Sakeria, Commanding Officer, INS Kochi, said inputs were received that Barge P-305, about 35-40 miles from Mumbai, was in trouble. Our ship was facing a very difficult situation. The hurricane was passing west of Mumbai at the time. Arriving at the scene we took over the position. With the ships remaining at the site he helped the barge and crew all possible. The operation is still going on and a large number of naval units are present at the site.

273 people were present on P-305. It was about 70 km from Mumbai. The barge anchored near the Bombay High's diamond oil field when the storm hit, but the anchor broke and it got stuck in the sea. His crew members jumped into the sea wearing life jackets before he drowned on Monday night.