‘Swam for 12 hrs before I was rescued’: Workmen from barge recall horror at sea

Battling tidal waves as high as 10 metres and strong winds while trying to stay afloat in the cyclonehit rough Arabian Sea for almost 12 hours workmen rescued from a sinking barge near here narrated their horrifying experience in their quest for survivalSome of them said they had almost lost the hope of making it alive back homeThe warship INS Kochi arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday with 125 workmen rescued from barge P305 an accommodation barge that sank amid the cyclone Tauktae furyINSKochi arrives at NavalDockyard with rescued personnel from BargeP305 that went adrift in cycloneTauktae fury before sinking in the ArabianSea off Mumbai coastVideo pdhivar pictwittercomhOspJvAI0Hmdash Mid Day mid_day May 19 2021Of the 273 people on the illfated barge 184 have been rescued so far by the Indian NavyIt was a horrific situation on the barge I had not thought I would survive But I swam in the waters for seven to eight hours with the determination to stay alive and was rescued by the Navy workman Manoj Gite told reporters hereGite 19 a resident of Kolhapur said as the barge started sinking all workmen got worried and he along with others wore a life jacket and jumped into the watersThe workman who had joined as a helper on the barge only last month said he lost all his documents and mobile phone in the cyclonic stormAsked if he would return to the rig again Gite said he is not keen to go back and is contented to be alive after the nightmarish experienceAlso Read Mumbai 89 from barge P305 missing all others from 2 barges rig safe says NavyAnother workman who was injured in the incident thanked the Indian Navy for saving his lifeIt is because of the Navy that we all are alive and safe today otherwise we dont what would have happened to us the workman said while fighting back his tearsOne of the officials on the barge had claimed the cyclone was not huge another workman saidThe official is now missing We tried to search for him but in vain he saidAnother rescued workman said as their barge started sinking he jumped into the waters in the middle of the night and tried to stay afloatI swam for about 12 hours before the Navy team rescued me he saidAnother personnel who works as a fitter at the rig said the sea waves were higher than the height of the barge and there were high speed winds blowing aroundBefore the Navy ship arrived we were not sure what was going to happen As we saw the naval ship coming towards us for rescue our confidence went up I was sure they will save me hence I jumped into the waters and started swimming he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever