In the recent development in the cyclone Tauktae disaster, Indian Navy deployed warships and coast guard to rescue over 300 people that were abord 2 barges. These barges had drifted off into Arabian Sea from the coast of Mumbai. The Indian Navy fought with extreme rain and wind to get into the middle of the sea to accomplish their search and rescue mission.

Also read: Cyclone Tauktae to Hit Gujarat: PM Modi Calls Gujarat, Goa and Maharashtra CM to take stock of preparations

Details

Multiple barges with more than 600 people on board have gone adrift since Monday morning. These barges included a barge called the P305 that had 273 people on board, a cargo barge called the GAL Constructor that had 137 people on board and another barge SS-3 that had 196 people on board.

The Navy upon receiving SOS calls from barge P305 swung into action and INS Kochi, INS Kolkata and INS Talwar, 3 warships were deployed to carry out the rescue operations. The barge was stranded off the Heera Oil Fields that are around 70 km from Mumbai. The barges were floating over one of the largest ONGC rigs on the Bombay High, the region with oil and gas assets occupied by ONGC. These barges had anchored after receiving the warnings ahead of the cyclone but ended up getting drifted due to high-speed gusty winds.

However, thanks to Navy, the barge was steadied. As many as 60 people on the board were already rescued till 11 PM on Monday night and the remaining ones were rescued today afternoon. Later it was announced that all 410 people from the 2 barges were safe and rescued at 1530 hours.

An official from the Indian Navy said-

“Two Coast Guard Chetak helicopters operating from the Coast Guard Air station in Daman rescued personnel on board the GAL Constructor. One more Chetak helicopter was also pressed into service for the SAR operations.”

The Gal Constructor had 137 people on the board and was drifting at about 48 nautical miles from Colaba point. In the rescue mission, ‘Water lily’ (towing vessel), support vessels and Samarat warship were involved. These vessels made sure that the people in jeopardy were safely rescued and evacuated.

Later in the day it was revealed the INS Talwar warship has been deployed to assist another oil rig Sagar Bhushan and SS-3. These 2 barges were 50 nautical miles from the Pipav port, a port that’s 152 nautical miles from Mumbai.

In another rescue mission, another Navy warship INS Kolkata underwent a search and rescue mission and successfully saved two people from a vessel called Vara Prabha.

While the Navy continued on the search and rescue operations, Indian Navy’s Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, Sadashiv Pawar was quoted by ANI saying-

“This is one of the most challenging search & rescue ops I’ve seen in the last 4 decades. 4 INS are on site. Main ops pertains to searching & rescuing 261 people from Afcons Barge P305 which sank about 60km away from Mumbai yesterday.”

When asked about the endurance and durability of the warships, Mr. Sadashiv said-

“Warships can take damage from a couple of missiles & still retain their combat capability but the sea doesn’t spare anyone. Sea is a good friend but equally a bitter enemy but our ships & crew are well trained & they’re up to facing any challenges.”

The Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff also said that the main aim of the Navy is to rescue people from the sea, be it during the COVID-19 crisis or not. He also said that the staff that are undertaking the rescue operations are already done with their 2 doses of vaccines. “’Zinda rahenge toh covid ka samna dobara karhege’ this is our motto at the stage”, the Naval chief said.

Meanwhile the netizens couldn’t keep calm after footage of Indian Navy’s rescue missions were released online. Check out some of the best reactions that will surely put you in a patriotic mood: