Indian Navy locates barge Papaa-305 on seabed

The ill-fated accommodation barge Papaa-305 — that sunk in the Arabian Sea after being caught in Tauktae cyclone five days ago — has been located on the seabed by a specialised survey ship of the Indian Navy on Saturday night.

In the early hours of Saturday, INS Makar and INS Tarasa sailed out of the harbour and reached ONGC’s Mumbai High offshore development area, and launched operations looking for people missing from accommodation barge Papaa-305 and anchor-handling boat/tug Varaprada.

INS Makar is the lead ship of the Makar-class of survey catamarans used for hydrographic survey by the Indian Navy – generally tasked with undertaking hydrographic surveys for producing navigational charts and is capable of collecting marine environmental information by conducting limited oceanographic surveys.

INS Tarasa is a patrol vessel of the Car Nicobar-class of Indian Navy and the last ship in the series of four Water Jet Fast Attack Craft (WJFAC).

Read | Shiv Sena blames ONGC for barge P-305 tragedy, asks if Dharmendra Pradhan would resign

To augment the ongoing search and rescue (SAR) operations for crew of barge Papaa-305 and Tug Varapradha, specialised diving teams onboard INS Makar (with sonar) and INS Tarasa sailed out early morning today from Mumbai for carrying out an underwater search.

In the evening, INS Makar located the barge on the seabed.

So far, the Indian Navy, which is leading the SAR operations, has rescued 186 persons and recovered 66 bodies, while 9 are still reported missing.

Meanwhile, P-8I — a long-range, multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft — carried out reconnaissance missions over the designated area even as ALH, SeaKing and Chetak helicopters carried out search operations, while ships like INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, INS Betwa and INS Beas continue to be in the vicinity.