Ferry with 88 on board capsizes off the Mandwa coast, cop rescues passengers
Private operator’s boat was going from Gateway of India in Colaba to Mandwa jetty
:A ferry carrying 88 passengers capsized off the coast of Mandwa in Raigad on Saturday morning. A police constable, who was patrolling the area, rescued the passengers. There were no casualties in the incident.
The process of salvaging the capsized vessel was stopped on Saturday evening and will resume today.
At around 10.15am, a kilometre from Mandwa jetty, an alarm was raised when passengers noticed the boat had tilted. Police said the attendants on board provided passengers with life jackets.
“Police constable Prashant Gharat, who was aboard a fishing trawler patrolling the coast, noticed people waving for help and directed the trawler to reach the ferry,” said Dharmraj Sonkhe, assistant inspector at Mandwa coastal police station.
By the time Gharat reached the ferry, water was filling the vessel’s lower portions.
“We got the children, women and a few foreign nationals on the trawler,” said Gharat, adding that the remaining passengers and attendants were rescued using speedboats that had been pressed into the rescue operation. All passengers and attendants on board were evacuated safely within 10 minutes.
The boat fully capsized afterwards.
The ferry had left Gateway of India in Colaba and was heading to Mandwa. Kifayat Mullah, secretary of Ajanta Ferry Services said, “Either an anchor or a foreign
object hit the ferry, which caused a hole at the bottom of the boat.” He said the ferry has been in service for 20 years and has been issued a fitness certificate every year by the Maharashtra Maritime Board. Mullah
also clarified that the ferry has the capacity to ferry 98 passengers at a time.
Mandwa coastal police said it will investigate if the boat was well-maintained and if it was carrying more than its capacity.