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
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