By IANS
Chennai : Search operations were on Tuesday evening to rescue the captain and seven crewmembers who were still missing after Samudrika 10, a supply vessel operated by energy major ONGC, sank off the Mumbai coast Monday.
A maritime search is for a minimum 72 hours and "we hope there are positive results", said Karthik Menon, director of Sical Logistics Ltd, the Chennai-based owners of the vessel.
"Our senior officers are in contact with the families (of the missing persons)," he added.
Sical officials here said that one ONGC helicopter and the three ONGC offshore supply vessels along with two vessels of British Gas were involved in search and rescue operations.
ONGC has also pressed into service a second helicopter and a coast guard Dornier aircraft. The navy too has been pressed into service. One ONGC multi-support vessel with divers and doctors on board was assisting the search, they said.
All platforms, rigs and vessels of ONGC in the area have been advised to keep a close watch during the night.
The crew had a combined sea-faring time log of over 100 man-years of ship-going experience, the company said. "But the extent of weather change and the fury of nature overwhelmed the vessel."
The number of crew onboard was 17 and all their statutory certificates were valid and in-date, it said.
Among the missing are Captain Gurubachan Singh, Unnikrishnan K., Rajendra Singh, Rajveer Singh, seamen Vivek Kumar and Shyam Ji, oil technician Shivmohan Tripathi and cook Sukanta Banerjee.
Alok Kumar Singh, chief officer M.K. Chauhan, seamen Umesh Sawant, Ranjeet Pandey, Om Prakash and Arvind Kumar Yadav, engineers A.K. Singh and Jagdev Singh and technician D. Patil were rescued from the sinking vessel Monday evening.
Sical Logistics said it made all possible efforts to save the vessel and the staff on board.
The firm took over Samudrika 10 on July 4, just a week ago, from Shipping Corporation of India. It was one of the 17 offshore support vessels under contract between ONGC, India's state-owned oil and natural gas major, and Sical.
Samudrika 10, built in 1986, was on standby mode due to bad weather, waiting for transfer of cargo to ONGC's drilling rig Sagar Gaurav when the tragedy struck.
"The vessel had sailed out of ONGC's Nhava supply base on July 6 in full sea worthy condition and complied with all requisite certification as per statutory requirements," the company said in a statement here.
Giving the sequence of events, it said: "On July 9, at about 00.01 hours, while vessel was cruising, the duty officer received a flood alarm and informed the captain immediately.
"The captain decided to anchor the vessel to control the flooding in the steering flat, and at about 01.00 hrs, Samudrika anchored off the ONGC rig Sagar Gaurav.
"Several attempts by ship staff to enter the steering flat failed due to very bad weather and heavy swell.
"Through the entire period, the captain and senior officers were on bridge and in constant touch with Nhava by radio. It then called for tow. At about 09.30 hrs, Samudrika lifted the anchor and started drifting and awaiting for tow. At about 11.45 hrs the vessel Nand Panna arrived and began towing Samudrika.
"At about 12.25 hrs Samudrika started listing on the star board and Nand Panna cut the tow, itself in danger.
"At 12.35 hrs, Samudrika started sinking at the stern side and could not come back to the normal position due to unexpected shifting of heavy cargo, aggravated by bad weather."