MT Pratibha Cauvery Grounded following Cyclone Nilam

MT Pratibha Cauvery had run aground near the Besant Nagar beach in Chennai on Wednesday Oct 31,2012.The five sailors went missing after a lifeboat they were using to leave the ship capsized.
Coast Guard helicopters had on Thursday rescued 15 trapped sailors from the ship.

The ship, carrying 37 crew members, was set adrift by cyclone Nilam on Wednesday Oct 31,2012.
On its captain’s orders, 22 of them boarded a lifeboat, which capsized mid-sea. While 17 were rescued, five sailors could not be traced. One died in hospital the same day. 

5 Sailors Missing
The five went missing after their lifeboat capsized in choppy waters while 16 were rescued by local fishermen and one drowned on Wednesday Oct 31,2012.

The bodies of three of the five missing sailors of ship MT Pratibha Cauvery, which was grounded by cyclone Nilam, have been found.

One of the bodies was washed ashore near the Chennai harbour while the other was found near Adyar Estuary. Another body was found at sea this afternoon. All the bodies are yet to be identified.



TN CM J Jayalalithaa Rewards brave fishermen who saved crew
Profusely hailing the bravery of four fishermen who had saved the lives of five crew members of the Pratibha Cauvery during cyclone Nilam on October 31 and the fifth fisherman who lent his boat for the rescue, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Nov 6,2012 Tuesday announced a cash award of Rs 1 lakh to each of them.

Rescue Operation Fails -Thursday Nov 8,2012

It turned out to be sluggish for a marine rescue team as their target — MT Pratibha Cauvery — barely budged.And to top it off, the rope used to tug the vessel snapped less than two hours into the operation.

 

  

The rescue team began work at 2 p.m. on Thursday Nov 8,2012 at Nochikuppam. They were able to steer the stranded vessel marginally during high tide. Towing vessel Malaviya 21 tried to pull the vessel from various angles. Around 3.40 p.m., the tow rope snapped. The 20-metre-long rope has to be intertwined before the next round of salvage operation begins. As the tide waters began to recede at 3.52 p.m., the rescue team called it a day

 

Stranded ship tugged away - Sunday Nov 11,2012

The Ship was  tugged away amid applause and cheers from a large gathering of onlookers on Sunday Nov 11,2012 after being the star attraction for beach crowds at Nochikuppam over the last 11 days.

The tow vessel Malaviya 21 arrived on Nov 5 to salvage the vessel after it ran aground under the fury of Cyclone Nilam and the tugging operations commenced on Nov 8.In its maiden attempt, the tow vessel was able to turn the stranded ship by six degrees. But the operations had to be called off when the tow rope snapped.

Authorities then decided to de-ballast 7,000 tonnes of water from the ship, using several electrical submersible pumps to make it lighter. The de-ballasting was completed by Nov 10,2012 Saturday evening and it helped tilt the vessel by 10 degrees towards the east. 

After that operation,the posterior of the ship, including the propeller set was under water, the front portion was in the air. To balance the vessel, 1,000 tonnes of water was pumped into the front portion. 

The ship was successfully salvaged by the tow vessel on its seventh attempt and hauled away at 6.30 p.m on sunday Nov 11,2012