MUMBAI, August 1: All 19 members of a cargo vessel were rescued by an Indian naval helicopter after the ship sprang a leak and began listing to its side nine miles off the city coast on Friday morning. This is the third instance in a year of disaster striking a ship carrying sulphur.

On June 19 this year, the MV Arcadia Pride carrying 12,700 tonnes of sulphur rolled over and sank 10 miles off the city coast killing 24 crew members. On August 16 last year, the MV Al Hadi carrying 15,000 tonnes of sulphur sank off Malabar Hill. The M V Sea Empress was carrying a cargo of 4,200 tonnes of sulphur from Bahrain to Mumbai when it was buffeted by strong winds off the city coast while at anchor on Thursday. The ship presently lies abandoned off the Mumbai coast with a 4 degree list to its right side. At around 4.30 am on Friday , the ship's captain sent a distress call to the Navy that the ship had lost its engines, and that water was entering the ship which was dragging anchor. ``After receiving an SOS, we launched a Seaking helicopter at dawn at around 6.30 am,'' said Captain Subodh Mittal, commanding officer INS Kunjali.

``The ship was moving very violently and was held only by the anchor. It was difficult for us to hold a steady course due to the strong winds,'' said Commander A K Sinha who flew two sorties to rescue the crew. In a three-hour operation, the helicopter winched aboard all 19 crew members and brought them back to the INS Kunjali helicopter base. Two Pakistani nationals - the Captain Javed Ahmed Mufti and chief engineer Dilawar Ghouse - were among the 19-member crew. ``We began dragging anchor in the rough weather at around noon yesterday and sounded a distress call to the port control and Navy. We were asked to expect a helicopter rescue from the Navy at around 4 pm,'' said the ship's Captain Mufti. The rescue by the Navy was cancelled after the ship's agents Unimarine Shipping Agency radioed they were sending a tug to the rescue. ``The entire crew had put on life jackets and were waiting on deck when the tug arrived at around 11 pm. However the rescue failed due to the heavy swells,'' said engineer cadet 23-year-old Amit Garde.

At around that time, the ship also sprung a leak and began rapidly taking in water. ``The water was steadily coming into the engine room, to check it we would have to remove all the plates in that section,'' said fourth engineer Neeraj Kannure. Water began pouring into the ship and into the sulphur cargo. According to the crew the cargo doors were not watertight. The ship started getting heavier and vessel began a slow list.

Early in the morning the captain flashed an SOS signal asking to be rescued since the ship had lost engine power and was rapidly taking in water. The ship's pumps too malfunctioned due to which water could not be pumped out.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.