Barge P-305, which sank in the Arabian Sea in May killing 86 onboard, was advised by ONGC NSE 0.70 % to move to safety before severe cyclone Tauktae struck but its captain decided to stay nearby, junior oil minister Rameswar Teli informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. On May 16, Cyclone Tauktae – a storm with the intensity of a category 3 hurricane – tore apart the Barge Papaa 305’s anchors and slammed it into an offshore platform, taking down 261 people on board. Many of them were rescued.
“Total 86 personnel lost their lives due to the sinking of vessels deployed for ONGC projects during cyclone Tauktae,” Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
