Watch: Navy Helicopter Prevents Burning Vessel SSL Kolkata From Drifting
The SSL Kolkata vessel was abandoned by the 22 crew members on June 14 off the Sagar Island at the mouth of the Ganges Delta. The team managed to drop the starboard anchor from the ship to prevent her from drifting any further.
New Delhi, June 16: In a daring and complex operation, a helicopter from the Eastern Naval Command winched down one MARCO officer on merchant vessel SSL Kolkata which had been on fire since the last two days. The Marine Commando Officer then managed to drop the anchor from the ship to prevent it from drifting.
The vessel was abandoned by the 22 crew members on June 14 off the Sagar Island at the mouth of the Ganges Delta. The team managed to drop the starboard anchor from the ship to prevent her from drifting any further.
atch how MARCO officer saves the merchant vessel from drifting:
The nature of the threat was evident from the explosion onboard in the forenoon which restarted the fire. The Indian Navy in its statement said that if the ship would not have been anchored, it could have caused havoc to the flora and fauna of Sunderbans and to the marine life in the Ganges Delta. It informed that no oil spill has been reported so far.
The team then prepared the seamanship gear for the ship to be towed if required. The helicopter skilfully recovered all four members of the team and is returning base for a turnaround. According to an official release, VAdm Karambir Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command had earlier directed that the ship drifts towards the Sundarbans delta had to be stopped at all costs notwithstanding the high temperatures onboard to avoid an ecological disaster should the ship capsize on the sandbanks causing pollution from oil on board.
Accordingly, a Seaking 42C helicopter and a Dornier aircraft were despatched from Visakhapatnam with a core-team comprising divers, Marcos, shipwrights and seamanship specialists to stage through the IAF airbase at Kalaikonda.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 16, 2018 04:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).