Massive search on for 90 missing as ONGC vessel sinks

More than 90 people are reported missing on Tuesday (18) after a vessel adrift off Mumbai's coast sank during cyclone Tauktae, the Indian navy said. About 177 people were rescued from the vessel as per the latest report. The rescue operations are still on.

Two ships and helicopters are deployed for the rescue operation in the region which is clobbered by the passing cyclone. Authorities have not confirmed any figure on the casualties yet.

The vessel known as P-305 was operated by a state-run oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and was anchored at Heera oil fields in Bombay high area, about 70 km southwest of Mumbai. The vessel was an ONGC accommodation barge and was carrying 273 crew personnel when it started drifting on Monday (16) as strong winds battered India's western coast. 

A total of four barges went adrift during the cyclone. The rest of them are taken in control and their crew is safe while P-305 sank. 

Families of those still missing are taking to social media as they desperately seek information after communications were lost.

The Navy on Tuesday morning reportedly also deployed a long-range, multimission maritime patrol aircraft to join the search and rescue operations. A naval officer told a local outlet that the sea was extremely rough, making it impossible to steer the rescue vessels alongside and the only way to bring people off the barge was by using life rafts. 

"#CycloneTauktae #Update SAR Ops Barge P305. 177 personnel rescued so far. First batch of 03 Rescuees brought in by #IndianNavy Helo. #INSKochi & #INSKolkata along with MV Offshore Energy & MV Ahalya continue with #SAR in extremely challenging circumstances," tweeted Indian Navy.

Cyclone Tauktae brought wind speeds of between 150 and 180 kilometers per hour and waves six to eight meters high in the offshore area where ONGC's main production installations and drilling rigs are located. 

The cyclone is the biggest to hit the region in decades and has claimed lives in Kerala, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat as savage winds swept through, uprooting trees and electricity pylons.