The circumstances that led to the emergency landing were not immediately clear.
A helicopter carrying seven passengers and two pilots today made an emergency landing in the Arabian Sea near the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) rig at Sagar Kiran in Mumbai High, the company said in a tweet. Six people have been rescued so far and further operations are underway, it said.
Five people were rescued by ONGC's vessel Malviya-16 and the fifth by ONGC rig Sagar Kiran's rescue boat.
#Helicopter carrying 7 passengers & 2 pilots makes emergency landing in #Arabian Sea near #ONGC rig Sagar Kiran in #Mumbai High. Four rescued. Rescue operations in full swing. @HardeepSPuri@Rameswar_Teli@PetroleumMin
— Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) (@ONGC_) June 28, 2022
A Coast Guard ship at sea was diverted to reach the spot, and another ship sailed out from Mumbai to join rescue operations, officials said. A Coast Guard aircraft dropped a life raft for survivors.
International Safety Net (ISN) has been activated by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai. The Coast Guard is coordinating with the Indian Navy and ONGC for mobilisation and augmentation of the rescue effort, officials added.
Offshore Supply Vessel Malviya 16, which was diverted by MRCC Mumbai to join rescue operations, picked up two survivors.
The helicopter, which had six ONGC personnel and one working with a contractor on board, was forced to land using the floaters that are attached to such coppers that carry personnel and material from shore to offshore installations, news agency PTI said.
The circumstances that led to the emergency landing were not immediately clear. Other details too were awaited.
ONGC has several rigs and installations in the Arabia Sea that are used to produce oil and gas from reservoirs lying below the seabed.
