Indian Coast Guard ships carrying out a fire fighting operation at the scene of incident. (Twitter/@IndiaCoastGuard) A FIRE was reported inside the engine room of an offshore supply vessel, Greatship Rohini, early on Saturday. According to Coast Guard officials, 18 members were on board the vessel, and 15 were rescued.
One crew member, who worked as an electrical officer, sustained 95 per cent burn injuries and is undergoing treatment at Masina hospital, officials said. Three persons, however, were still missing and a search operation was still underway, they added.
Officials further said the three missing crew members were believed to be trapped in the engine room. The incident took place around 8.57 am, when the vessel was near NQO Platform of Mumbai High, which is 92 nautical miles northwest of Mumbai.
The injured officer has been identified as Gurbeender Singh, while the three missing crew members are Aneeth Anthony, Akshay Nikam and Ranjit Sawant, working as 4th engineer, fitter and oiler.
“They are believed to be trapped in the engine room,” an official said. After Coast Guard officials received information about the incident, they diverted Offshore Patrol Vessel Samarth to the scene.
Officials said initially MV Albatross-5, which was operating around the place of the incident, tied a hawser from the forecastle of Greatship Rohini and pulled it out to a safe location from the NQO platform rig.
The patrol vessel, with its advanced external firefighting system, is working in coordination with OSV Priya 27 for controlling the fire.
Officials also said due to excessive heat and smoke, they were unable to enter the engine room where the fire started. A CG Dornier aircraft was launched to assess the situation, and a pollution control vessel was also deployed to augment efforts, officials added.
Police have mentioned the incident in their station house dairy. They said they will initiate an inquiry after the rescue operation was over.