Navy locates Barge P305 on the seabed, 20 crew members from two vessels still missing
Out of 261 crew members on board Barge P305, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard managed to rescue 186 personnel and retrieved 66 dead bodies. Only two of the 13 people on board the tug vessel Vadapradha could be rescued.
FollowIndian Navy's ships have located Barge P305, which sank off the Mumbai coast on Monday night following Cyclone Tauktae.
Out of 261 crew members on board Barge P305, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard managed to rescue 186 personnel and retrieved 66 dead bodies.
Only two of the 13 people on board the tug vessel Vadapradha could be rescued.
Search operations are still on for the remaining 20 missing personnel from the two vessels.
According to the Indian Navy, INS Makar located Barge P305 on the seabed.
"Barge P305 located at the seabed after a systematic search by INS Makar employing advanced side-scan sonar. Search efforts for remaining crews of P305 and tug Varaprada continue," Indian Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.
Earlier, Commander Madhwal had said, "Barge P305 188 survivors (incl 2 of ex tug Varaprada) & 66 Brave Nature Victims (BNVs) recovered. Search & Rescue ops continue for the remaining crew."
Besides INS Makar, the Indian Navy has deployed its assets, including INS Kochi, Kolkata, Beas, Betwa, Teg, Tarasa, P8I maritime surveillance aircraft, and Chetak and Seaking helicopters. Indian Coast Guard has also deployed several ships and aircraft in the operations.
