Three crew members die aboard PSV off Mumbai
Three of the fifteen crew members died as a result of the fire on board
On Sunday, the Indian Coast Guard assisted in extinguishing a fire aboard the PSV Greatship Rohini off the coast of Mumbai. Fifteen of the 18 crew members were rescued and three were found dead in a search after the fire was extinguished.
The fire broke out Saturday about 90 miles off the coast of Mumbai, near the NQO platform. Cutters from the Indian Coast Guard cutters Samarth and Samudra Praheri went to the scene, accompanied by a Dornier patrol aircraft. A fire crew from the Samarth boarded the OSV and helped rescue 15 of the 18 crew members on board.
One of the survivors suffered burns and was transported to a hospital for medical attention. He is recovering and is not in critical condition, according to Hindustan Times.
External firefighting with onboard monitors and foam continued through Saturday night, and the fire was finally extinguished Sunday morning. Once the fire was extinguished, the crew and first responders re-embarked and eventually located three bodies: two in a deck area and one in the engine control room. All showed signs of burns, two of them unrecognizable.
Once the fire was extinguished, the AHTS Greatship Anjali towed the Greatship Rohini. Early Monday morning, the Anjali was heading south off the coast of Mumbai, making three knots and emitting restricted maneuverability.
India’s director general of shipping, Amitabh Kumar, said Sunday that an investigation will be launched into the cause of the fire and that “the cause of the fire will be known after a proper investigation.”
The Greatship Rohini is a 3,000 gt PSV built in 2010, owned and operated by a Mumbai-based company. It has no overseas PSC inspection record.
