506 Passengers Stranded In Mid-Sea For 24 Hours Off Vizag Coast

As many as 506 passengers including around 150 women and 50 crew members on board a Port Blair-bound ship MV Harshavardhan were stranded in the deep sea, around 15 to 20 nautical miles off the Vizag coast, for 24 hours with one of its generator developing a snag. "The ship master has decided sail back to Vizag Port. We have made the arrangements at the port and the ship is expected to reach here in the wee hours of Thursday," Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) deputy chairman PL Harinadh told Express at around 9 pm on Wednesday. MV Harshavardhan sailed from Visakhapatnam at around 1.35 pm on Tuesday developed a technical snag in one of its generator after around six hours of journey.

Harinadh said that the VPT had been repeatedly contacting the ship master since the morning if they needed any help, but each time the latter refused, saying that the technical snag had almost been rectified by their crew. "We have contacted the ship master number of times and offered assistance of engineers to check the snag or assistance of Navy and other departments. But, he (ship master) kept saying that the ship would be ready for sail shortly," said Harinadh, adding that the ship master informed that there was no problem with the electricity since other three generators were working and other supplies like food and water were also sufficient. The merchant vessel, belonging to the Shipping Corporation of India, has four generators one of which developed malfunction. According to Harinadh, it's was the decision of the ship master whether to go with three or four generators and the latter was interested to sail with all four generators.