All bodies recovered in barge tragedy off Mumbai coast

Exactly a week after an accommodation barge Papaa-305 and tug Varaprada sunk in the Arabian Sea when the devastating Tauktae cyclone hit the ONGC’s Mumbai High offshore development area, a total of 86 crew members and oil workers died and all persons on board the two vessels have been accounted for.

While 261 persons were on board Papaa-303, 13 were on board Varaprada, a tug and anchor-handling vessel.

A total of 188 survivors – 186 from Papaa-305 and two from Varaprada were picked up at sea during the massive Indian Navy-led Search and Rescue (SAR) operations.

During the last seven days, 70 dead bodies have been recovered from the Arabian Sea by the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.

Also read: NHRC seeks report on barge Papaa-305 sinking after authorities 'appeared' to have known danger

Besides, over the last couple of days, eight bodies have been recovered from the Raigad coast of Maharashtra and eight from the Valsad coast of Gujarat.

“All 274 reported missing have been accounted for. Final confirmation, however, will be pending till the identification of all bodies are complete,” officials of Mumbai-headquartered Western Naval Command said on Sunday night.

The Yellow Gate police station, which has jurisdiction over the Arabian Sea, and have registered an FIR into the case, are investigating the matter.

The bodies are being sent to the Sir JJ Hospital, where the post-mortem are being conducted before being handed over to the relatives.

The barge, along with its marine crew was owned and operated by Durmast Enterprises Ltd, which was chartered by Afcons Infrastructure Ltd, which along with its consortium partner Halani-Tes-Nauvata, has been working with ONGC for the revamp of its unmanned offshore platforms in the Arabian Sea.

Also read: ONGC reaches out to families of dead in barge sinking

Meanwhile, the ONGC management has decided to extend an immediate relief of Rs 1 lakh to the survivors and Rs.2 lakh for the victims’ and missing persons’ families.

Afcons too is working out a package ranging between Rs 35 to Rs 75 lakh per family. “It was our moral duty to support not only the families of the deceased persons on its direct rolls, but also families of all deceased persons who were employed with its subcontractors,” Afcons said in a statement.

Afcons stated that it would ensure that the families of the deceased would receive a total compensation equivalent to a balance period of service up to 10 years salaries through a combination of ex gratia pay-outs and insurance compensation. While the modalities of the payments are being worked out, it is estimated that total compensation would range from Rs 35 lacs up to Rs 75 lacs per family.