Mumbai: Barge P305 which sank during Cyclone Tauktae fury six days ago was located on the seabed on Saturday.
There was no trace yet of nine personnel from barge P305 and 11 from tugboat Varaprada while the death count on P305 rose to 66 with the recovery of six more bodies during the day, a Navy spokesperson said.
As many as 186 personnel from Barge P305 and two from Tug Varaprada have been rescued so far as the Indian Navy, on Saturday, deployed specialised diving teams in a bid to trace crew members missing for six days since Cyclone Tauktae rendered the vessels adrift. So far 66 bodies have been recovered by the Navy, while search and rescue operations continue for the remaining crew.
Underwater search for wrecks of Barge P305 and Tug Varaprada using specialized teams and equipment is also in progress, as per the latest update.
Barge P305 was a vessel doing work for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) off the coast of Mumbai. It had broken free of its anchor shortly after midnight on May 16 due to high-speed winds and a choppy sea.
