13 folks, together with an officer of the Indian Navy and two contractual naval staff, had been killed when a naval speedboat which was finishing up engine trials dashed towards a passenger ferry, Neel Kamal, carrying over 100 passengers from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Island, on Wednesday afternoon. The boat capsized at Butcher island, additionally referred to as Jawahar Dweep, 8.25 kilometers from the Gateway of India.
The passenger ferry had set sail at 3:15 pm and the mid-sea crash occurred at 3:55 pm. Neel Kamal was carrying many individuals from out of city, a few of who had been visiting town for the primary time.
At 4 pm, personnel from a pilot vessel of the Jawaharlal Nehru Authority (JNPA), which was close to the accident website, began rescue operations and saved 56 passengers. Quickly after, a couple of non-public vessels collaborated within the operation and had been finally joined by Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police.
What the Navy says
An announcement issued by Navy mentioned: “At about 1600 hours on December 18, 2024, a Navy craft (speedboat) present process engine trials misplaced management and collided with a passenger ferry, Neel Kamal, off Butcher Island. 4 naval helicopters, 11 naval crafts (vessels), three Coast Guard boats and an equal variety of Marine Police boats had been concerned within the rescue efforts.”
Major investigation by the Navy has proven that the engine of the Naval vessel had malfunctioned, HT has learnt from folks within the know. The Navy can even examine if the engines had been of inferior high quality. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Indian Navy have ordered two separate inquiries into the accident.
Quickly after the incident, a message was despatched to the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) of the Indian Navy and 4 helicopters had been despatched to look the lacking. Vice Admiral Sanjay Singh who heads the Western Naval Command, and chief of workers Ajay Kocchar went to the JOC to oversee the rescue operations.
The Navy has been stricken by many accidents over the past one yr. Just lately, a submarine Karanj rammed right into a fishing boat off Goa, killing two fishermen. Prior {that a} hearth had damaged out in INS Brahmaputra within the naval dockyard.
A video of the incident taken by a passenger on Neel Kamal on Wednesday confirmed the Naval vessel overtaking the ferry speedily from the proper facet, going forward, taking a U-turn and approaching the ferry in excessive velocity to hit it within the rear.
Unmesh Wagh, chairman of JNPA, mentioned, “Our pilot vessel was on obligation close by; and when the captain realised there was one thing amiss, he deviated from the trail to avoid wasting folks. Our pilot boat can carry as much as 10 individuals, however we managed to rescue 56 folks and took them to JNPA hospital.”
On the finish of Wednesday’s operation, officers from Colaba police station mentioned 98 individuals had been rescued from the positioning and had been taken to varied hospitals. Other than JNPA Hospital, they had been taken to Karanja Hospital throughout the harbour, and the Navy Dockyard Hospital, Aswini Hospital and St Georges Hospital, Mumbai. Ten our bodies had been taken to NDK Hospital, in Mora, situated throughout the harbour in Navi Mumbai.
Late on Wednesday evening, Colaba police registered an FIR towards the motive force of the Naval velocity boat underneath sections 106 (1) (inflicting demise by negligence), 125 (a) (punishment for reckless or negligent acts that endanger private security or lifetime of others), 282 (rash or negligent navigation of a vessel) and 324 (mischief) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The FIR was registered on the idea of complaints made by Natharam Chaudhary, 22, a resident of Saki Naka, who was one of many passengers in Neel Kamal, and his relative Shravan Chaudhary who filmed the crash, the video of which was extensively circulated by the day.
Police mentioned, 4 of the rescued are in a vital state, three of whom are being handled in JNPA Hospital and one in Aswini Hospital.
CM pronounces ₹5 lakh ex-gratia
CM Devendra Fadnavis mentioned {that a} new engine was fitted to the naval speedboat which was being examined by Navy personnel when the mishap occurred. He added that efforts had been on to find out if any people had been nonetheless lacking and {that a} complete report from police and Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB) are anticipated on Thursday morning.
Fadnavis introduced an ex-gratia fee of ₹5 lakh for households of the deceased and guaranteed an intensive investigation by native authorities and the Navy, to uncover the reason for the collision and assess if there have been any lapses in security protocols. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has additionally introduced ₹2 lakh from the PM aid fund, for the households of the useless, and ₹50,000 for the injured.
Dispute over ferry’s capability
Rajendra Padte, proprietor of Neel Kamal, advised HT that the boat had capability to hold 130 folks and there have been round 80 passengers and 5 crew members on board on the time of the accident. “Our boat is provided with all security gear like lifejackets. After I was knowledgeable in regards to the accident, I rushed to the spot. The video doing the rounds reveals that the boat from Navy dashed into the ferry,” mentioned Padte.
Ashok Rao, considered one of survivors, disputed Padte’s declare, as he mentioned, the vessel was carrying “greater than 100 folks, of which round 10 to 12 had been youngsters”.
“We weren’t carrying lifejackets. Quickly after the accident, inside the blink of a watch we discovered ourselves in water. I swam for quarter-hour and received onto a small boat. There was chaos throughout. I’m nervous in regards to the youngsters. A number of folks might need misplaced their lives,” mentioned Rao.
An investigating officer from Colaba police mentioned “the boat was overcrowded and there was not sufficient security gear for all”. This was corroborated by an MMB officer.
“Whereas the operator of the boat mentioned the vessel had a capability to carry 85 to 90 folks, and had greater than 100 life jackets, the variety of rescued had been over 110 individuals,” he mentioned, including the board had begun investigation into the precise variety of passengers within the ferry.
