The Indian Navy on Thursday recovered 23 more bodies of crew members of accommodation barge P305, which de-anchored and sank in the Heera oil fields in the Arabian Sea, hours before the powerful cyclone Tauktae battered the region late on Monday. The toll has risen to 49, as rescuers continue to search for 37 more personnel.
Three barges and an anchor boat deployed by private contractor Afcons for a project it was doing for the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), and a drillship of a state-owned firm lost anchors and drifted away in cyclonic winds of up to 210 kmph. While 440 personnel on two barges and the drillship were brought to safety, barge P305, carrying 261 personnel, sank. Of the 261, 186 were rescued and the bodies of 49 have been recovered, officials said. Search for the remaining 26 is still on. Of the 13 on anchor boat Varaprada, two have been rescued, while the…
