Date:08/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/08/stories/2007060819591500.htm

National

Tug sinks, crew rescued

Special Correspondent

MUMBAI: A vessel sunk off Dwarka in stormy sea, but the Coast Guard rescued 14 of its crew.

The vessel, Akash, was towing an empty barge from Sikka, near Jamnagar, to Mumbai when its engine room was flooded on Monday. The crew could not undertake any repair work, as the sea was choppy. After sending an SOS, they moved into the barge.

The Maritime Rescue Sub Centre, Porbander, picked up the message and alerted merchant and Coast Guard vessels in the area, a Coast Guard spokesman here said on Thursday.

Four ships, including Coast Guard vessel Samar, headed towards area. The rescue work was challenging, as the sea was rough in view of cyclone Gonu that caused havoc in Oman.

The Samar crew struggled almost the entire night of June 4 to pass ropes to the rolling and pitching barge. Finally, they towed the barge to Port Okha.

No oil slick

Another Coast Guard vessel, Meera Behn, monitored the drifting Akash, as it had 20 tonnes of high-speed diesel. The tug sunk after some time. The spokesman said there was no oil slick.