Offshore supply vessel Coastal Jaguar in which a major fire broke out off Visakhapatnam coast on Monday, was towed to safety into the inner harbour of Visakhapatnam Port late on Monday night, after the fire was completely doused.
According to VPT officials, the situation is under control and the injured are undergoing treatment at a corporate hospital in the city. Of the 29 crew and staff onboard, 27 were rescued by the personnel of Indian Coast Guard and VPT.
While the body of Ashish Kumar, a native of Rajasthan, was found, Vicky Chowhan, another crew member, is still missing and a search is on to trace him.
Of the 15 injured who have been admitted to hospital, five have been discharged 10 are in the intensive care unit. Of them, three are said to be critical with over 90% burns. The remaining have suffered burns varying from 30% to 60%.
Herculean task
The fire-fighting operation went till late on Monday night, and after a strenuous effort put by VPT and Indian Coast Guard the fire was brought under control. A senior port official said that investigation was on by various agencies to ascertain the cause of fire.
While VPT deployed four of its crafts — Sea Lion Agile, Sea Lion Sentinel, Sardar Patel and Fire Float — the Coast Guard pressed into service its ships Rani Rashmoni , Samudra Paheredar and fast interceptor boat C-432, apart from one helicopter.
“We had to use both water and foam to tame the raging fire and after dousing the fire had to pump out the water to keep the ship afloat,” said DIG Coast Guard Bibuthi Ranjan.
Overcrowded?
While the cause of fire is still to be found and it is now up to DG Shipping to take up the investigation, a question that has been making rounds is when the capacity of the ship was only 19, how did it sail out with 29 members, which reportedly included a few administrative staff of the shipping company and a couple of divers from a private diving company.
District Collector V. Vinay Chand has constituted a three-member committee comprising senior officials from the Revenue Department, District Industries and the Fire Department to submit a report over the incident. The Oil Ministry has also sought a report over the incident.
