It is worth investigating the revolutionary claims coming out of The Metals Company. But we have an important topic to cover, nonetheless. So, anything we write this week pales into insignificance compared to the horrific loss of life in this unnecessary and completely preventable tragedy. The Times also reported here that Mumbai Police have now issued a First Information Report – which includes charges of “causing death by negligence” – against the master of the unit, Captain Rakesh Ballav. Why do crews end up in harm’s way in today’s era of accurate satellite weather forecasting? Blame game begins with barge masterĪfcons management has issued a statement that the captain is conveniently to blame for the tragedy (reported in the Times of India here). Angry and grieving relatives have demanded answers for what the vessel was doing in the path of the tropical storm – exactly the same questions that were asked in the sinking of the tug Bourbon Rhode in a storm in the Atlantic ( here), and after the loss of the liftboat Seacor Power, which sank in a squall off Louisiana last month ( here).
The sinking of P305 is the worst offshore disaster since the explosion on the Piper Alpha platform in the UK North Sea in July 1988, and it is the worst ever in the history of offshore exploration in South Asia. There were 186 survivors, but 75 men are dead and missing, and the chances of finding any further survivors now are very low. This means we can’t offer any insight into the tragic loss of the Afcons Infrastructure work barge P305, which sank 35 nautical miles off Mumbai on May 17 during Cyclone Tauktae, whilst chartered to India’s state oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). We return once again to the issue of subsea mining this week.
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