Sunk ONGC barge had safety, seaworthiness certificates: Minister
Barge Papaa-305, which sank off the Mumbai coast in May killing more than 80 onboard, had all the safety and sea worthiness certificates when it met with the accident, junior oil minister Rameswar Teli told Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. On May 16, Cyclone Tauktae — a storm with the intensity of a category 3 hurricane — tore apart Barge Papaa 305’s anchors and slammed it into an offshore platform, taking down 261 people on board. Many of them were rescued.
“The Barge Papaa-305 was built in the year of 2004,” he said in a written reply to a question in the Upper House of Parliament.
Indian regulations allow seaworthy barges to operate for as long as 35 years.
