Gujarat ship washes ashore Maharashtra village

Palghar, Aug 3 (IANS) A large cargo ship from Gujarat went adrift and got stuck on the rocks of Vangaon village in Maharashtra following stormy and rough weather conditions in the Arabian Sea on Saturday, officials said.

According to Vangaon Police Station chief, Rahul Patil, some fishermen informed the about the stranded ship.

"We immediately sent a police team there and found that there are around 13 crew members on board the stranded vessel. We have taken full details from them and are making further arrangements to rescue them from the ship," Patil told IANS.

Captain V.V. Pillai said the ship 'M.V. Nanda Aparna' had set sail from Hazira (Gujarat) to Alibaug in Raigad (Maharashtra) last week with a cargo of steel.

After unloading the cargo at Alibaug, it was returning to Hazira on Friday evening.

"Everything was okay till around 2 a.m. Thereafter, we encountered extremely heavy rain, very high waves, almost zero visibility and we seemed to have lost the course. Around 4 a.m., we found that we were stuck on the rocky shores of Palghar," Captain Pillai told IANS from the ship.

He said all the crew members were safe and there was sufficient food and water for them on board and they were awaiting help from the owners, M/s. Eco Pronch Logistics Pvt. Ltd. in Surat.

As per the preliminary investigation, police said one of the ship's propellers appeared to be badly damaged thus paralysing the ship.

The 1,478 tonne merchant ship measures around 78 metres in length and five metres in width, said Captain Pillai.

Meanwhile, a large number of curious onlookers from the fishing village and nearby areas thronged the seafront for a view of the big ship.