The Indian Navy announced early on Tuesday that it had rescued 146 people from the P305, a barge that had sunk as a result of cyclone Tauktae.
The P305, according to reports, was used as a sea-based accommodation base for personnel working on ONGC oil rig projects at Bombay High. The vessel had 273 people on board when it was reported to be in distress on Monday afternoon.
The Indian Navy tweeted that the warships INS Kochi and INS Kolkata continued rescue operations throughout the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
They were joined in their efforts by offshore support vessel Energy Star and Great Ship Ahalya.
The Indian Navy announced that a P-8I maritime patrol aircraft, equipped with advanced sensors, had begun a search for the missing personnel from P305 on Tuesday morning.
Indian Navy helicopters have also joined the search and rescue operation.
News 18 reported the missing crew of P305 was likely to have life jackets to remain afloat.
Sources in the Navy say there are many who are in the water, adrift since they would be wearing life jackets. The barge has its own rescue boat and life rafts but the 2 naval ships at sight—INS Kochi and INS Kolkata—have also put lifeboats and life jackets in sea. This to ensure that those adrift and not spotted so far have a chance at survival,” News 18 reported.
ONGCC on Tuesday released a terse statement confirming incidents on board three barges in the Arabian Sea due to Tauktae.
"Due to severe cyclonic storm, unfortunate incidences have occurred involving three construction barges of Afcons working on a project of ONGC in Western Offshore fields in the Arabian Sea and one drilling rig of ONGC," ANI quoted the statement as saying.
According to reports, the three barges collectively had 435 personnel on board.
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The Coast Guard confirmed that all crew onboard the barge GAL Constructor, which had 137 people on board, was safe. The ship had run aground off Mahim.
The Indian Navy announced warship INS Talwar was "heading to render assistance to Barge Support Station 3 & Drill Ship Sagar Bhushan - adrift off Pipavav Port".
