INS Kochi reaches Mumbai harbour, 184 personnel rescued from Barge P305

INS Kochi, an indigenously designed Indian Navy ship, on Wednesday morning entered the Mumbai harbour along with rescued personnel from Barge P305, news agency ANI reported. It quoted PRO, Defence as saying that INS Teg, INS Betwa, INS Beas P8I aircraft and Seaking Helos are continuing with search and rescue operations.

"Had inputs that Barge P305 was in distress, approx 35-40 miles from Mumbai. The ship sailed under very difficult conditions, storm was passing just passing west of Mumbai. As we arrived on the scene we took charge of the situation," Capt Sachin Sequeira, Commanding Officer, INS Kochi, said.

"With others on site, we rendered the best possible assistance for the Barge and crew. The ops are still ongoing. We have a large number of naval units on site. My ship has just come back. About 184 people have been rescued, of which 125 are onboard my ship," he added.

INS Kochi was roped in for search and rescue assistance for a barge adrift in Mumbai with 273 people on board.

High-speed winds and heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Monday as cyclonic storm Tauktae wreaked havoc in coastal areas of Mumbai and Gujarat.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy (IN) and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) continued their search for missing 89 personnel from the barge which went adrift and later sank near the Bombay High Fields.