Rescue operations underway following the tragic collision between an Indian Navy RIB and a passenger ferry off Butcher Island, Mumbai, resulting in 13 deaths and several injuries | File Photo
Mumbai: Senior naval officers and mariners have expressed shock at the Indian Navy rigid inflatable boat (RIB) on sea trial crashing into passenger ferry off Butcher island on Wednesday afternoon resulting in the death of 13 persons and injuries to several others. The passenger boat with 80 tourists was en route to Elephanta island from Gateway of India.
Seasoned mariners have questioned the seamanship of the naval RIB failing to manoeuvre the speeding craft away from the ferry vessel.
According sources, the naval craft undergoing engine trials lost control and collided with a passenger ferry was helmed by a junior rating who panicked due to engine throttle malfunction to control the speed.
“The naval rating did not get time to react and maneuver the speeding RIB from collision course,” said senior coastal police officials after analysis of the video footage and statements of the lone naval personnel survivor and engine manufacturer executive on board the ill fated naval craft.
Veteran naval officials have questioned the absence of a naval officer on board the RIB for sea trials. “A junior sailor is not qualified to conduct sea trials. The sea trial is not just a formality. The officer concerned should be court martailed for handing a test equipment to a junior rating with no experience,” raged the veteran naval officer.
The Indian Navy had launched Search and Rescue (SAR) operations after the collision which the local ferry and charter service operators have debunked. “Most of the survivors were rescued by the local ferry boats, charters and fishing vessels until Indian Navy, Coast Gaurd, Marine Police and CISF patrol arrived at the capsized ferry,” said Majid Bamne operating a charter speed boat service between Gateway of India to Mandwa.
Meanwhile the Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) has cracked the whip on all commercial activities at the Gateway of India harbour for ignoring safety protocols including mandatory life jackets to be worn by tourists and passengers on water.
“It is mandatory for all passengers to wear life jackets when on water for safety. It is rarely enforced,” said former MMB chief engineer and surveyor Santosh Shinde.
The Indian Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry into the collision to establish facts of the case while search and rescue operations continued for second day with eight navy crafts, a naval helicopter and Coast Gaurd vessel to scan for the two missing tourists on the ferry vessel “NeelKamal.”
