The Coast Guard, which regularly provides assistance to vessels in distress, had clearly warned the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and also the Flag Officer, Offshore Defence Advisory Group (FODAG), that all ships should come back to the harbour in the wake of Cyclone Tauktae.
Inspector General Anand Badola, the Commandant General of Coast Guard (West), said they had asked ONGC and FODAG to remove all vessels from the sea. “Why the ONGC did not follow the intimation is a question it has to answer,’’ he added.
Badola said they ensured that 4,221 fishing boats had entered the harbour before the cyclone made its way to the Mumbai coast.
