Mumbai, July 9
Eight employees of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation went missing after the vessel, in which they were being transported from the mainland to Bombay High, capsized due to bad weather this afternoon.
According to ONGC chairman and managing director R. S. Sharma, the incident happened at around 12.30 pm when the supply vessel, Samudrika-10, suddenly capsized and sank some 56 nautical miles from the Nhava Sheva supply base. The sea is rough due to the monsoon. The vessel suddenly began to take water and sank.
Of the 17 persons on board the vessel, nine were rescued. Coast Guard helicopters and other vessels of the ONGC have been deployed on a rescue mission to find the missing personnel.
The vessel was one of 60 such vessels belonging to the ONGC. It was operated by Seacal, a private agency.
Sharma said the operations at Bombay High would not be affected because of the incident.
