A barge carrying 273 personnel was caught in the winds and rain of Cyclone Tauktae on Monday. The barge sank on Tuesday and the Indian Navy managed to rescue 177 so far. However, 96 others remain missing.

One of the vessels with 273 personnel on board, which was stranded near Bombay High during the impact of Cyclone Tauktae, has sunk. The Indian Navy has managed to rescue 177 people till Tuesday morning while search is on for the others.

Rescue and search operations were intensified on Tuesday, a day after the severe cyclonic storm made landfall in Gujarat and wreaked havoc in Mumbai.

Indian Naval ships Beas, Betwa and Teg joined INS Kochi and Kolkata for undertaking search and rescue (SAR) operations for Barge P-305, which sank 35 nautical miles from Mumbai. SAR has also been augmented by P8I and naval helicopters, who continue to undertake an aerial search in the area.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had on Monday said barge P305 with 273 personnel deployed for offshore drilling got de-anchored and began drifting because of the cyclonic storm Tauktae.