Barge P305 located on seabed, Navy continues search for 20 missing personnel

MUMBAI: Barge P305 which sank during Cyclone Tauktae fury six days ago was located on the seabed on Saturday, the Navy said, while it continued the search for 20 missing personnel from two vessels.

There was no trace yet of nine personnel from barge P305 and 11 from tugboat Varaprada while the death toll on P305 rose to 66 with the recovery of six more bodies during the day, a Navy spokesperson said.

Barge P305 has been located on the seabed after systematic search by INS Makar employing advanced side scan sonar while search for the missing personnel will continue through the night, he said.

The Navy also deployed specialised diving teams to boost the search and rescue operations (SAR).

“So far, 66 mortal remains have been recovered. The SAR ops are continuing through the night,” the spokesperson said.

“To augment the ongoing SAR ops for the missing crew of Barge P305 and Tug Varaprada, specialised diving teams onboard INS Makar with side-scan sonar and INS Tarasa sailed out early morning today from Mumbai,” the Navy spokesperson had tweeted earlier in the day.