After several twists and turns, the 48-hour journey on-board m.v. Harshavardhana by 500-odd Port Blair-bound passengers ended on Thursday with the decision of the ship management to cancel its voyage.
When the ship, mostly carrying people from North Andhra Pradesh and South Odisha for labour work in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, sailed from Visakhapatnam Harbour, none had any suspicion of the harrowing time ahead.
The ship was stuck for several hours in high seas about 14 nautical miles from here six hours after it left the port. Only on the intervention of senior officials and the Navy, the ship crew was advised to return to the port for undertaking repairs on one of the defunct generators found mid-sea. The ship anchored in the Inner Harbour in the early hours of Thursday, following which several anxious relatives from nearby areas rushed to the port to find out about the well-being of the passengers. The passengers included several women and children. Relatives offered passengers home-made food through CISF security personnel manning the main gate leading the East Quay-4, where the ship was berthed.
Due to exposure to long hours of halting in high seas without any moment, many of the passengers suffered from sea-sickness.
The passengers were first told there was a snag in the engine, later that they were repairing a generator. The crew also went to the extent of telling passengers that another ship would join them to carry the passengers to Port Blair.
Harrowing experience
A first year Intermediate student from the city, Manikanta, who was going to the Andamans, suffered from sea-sickness.
Ramana, another passenger, said the ship crew after informing that the engine failed, later in the day on Wednesday confirmed that one of the generators failed to work. In the entire episode, they tried to play down the problem. On its arrival, VPT arranged a medical camp by Red Cross and distributed milk and food packets to the passengers.
