Hopes sink, but searches continue for Arcadia Pride survivors

A Staff Writer in Bombay

Frantic operations are continuing to find 20 of the missing 20 of the 33 people on board the M V Arcadia Pride which sank on Thursday in the Arabian Sea off the Bombay coast.

Despite the rough weather, naval and Coast Guard helicopters are continuing the search. However, fears are being expressed that there may be no survivor, since 28 hours have passed since the incident took place.

Three survivors, who were still recovering from their struggle in the rough seas, attributed their survival to the grace of god.

Jitesh Pandya, who joined the merchant navy a few months ago, hung onto a big log till he was rescued. When the ship began tilting, his commanding officer told him to get life jackets. When Pandya returned with the life jackets, his commanding officer was no longer there. Pandya hoped the ship would right itself but when it leaned over farther, he jumped into the rough sea and latched onto a floating log.

He had almost given up hope when he saw, through pouring rain, the ship's third engineer, Luis D'Costa, in a life raft. D'Costa pulled Pandya into the raft and they hung on till hovering helicopters and the M V Veer Savarkar spotted them. That ship's crew threw them nets to hold on to and pulled them aboard.

Says D'Costa, "I have sailed through the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but never in my life have I had such an experience. I can only say I was lucky." He could not remember what happened and how he reached the hospital. The only thing he knows is that he was also on the roof when the incident occurred.

C D Balakrishnan, the third survivor, said, "When the incident occurred I was on top of the ship. I could see the ship going down in front of my eyes. I (was thrown off and) swam away... Finally I saw a log... I swam towards (it) and kept holding on till I could see the rescue workers. (After being rescued) I was so tired that after some time I fainted. And when I woke up, I found myself in hospital."

The 14,000-tonne MV Arcadia Pride was bringing a cargo of 12,700 tonnes of sulphur from Dubai. The containers were placed on one side of the ship, survivors told Rediff On The NeT. The ship may have sunk because the containers shifted in the high seas, experts said.

Meanwhile, seven of the nine people who were rescued on Thursday, were discharged from the St George hospital in Bombay. Balkrishnan and D'Costa will be discharged later, Arcadia Shipping sources said.

Those missing included M V Arcadia Pride's captain P K Singh and his two-year-old son Vishisht. His wife Vinita was rescued.

A three-member committee has been set up to investigate why the ship sank. The panel, constituted by the mercantile marine department, consists of principal officer Sanjay Chakrabarty, Captain L K Panda, nautical surveyor, and Captain H Khatri.

Shipping experts ruled out foul play, pointing out the ship was 23 years old. After 15 years of sailing, stringent precautions have to be taken if a ship is carrying cargo.

So far no compensation has been given to the families of those who died or are missing. An Arcadia Shipping spokesperson told Rediff On The NeT, "Our first job is to find out the people who are missing. Once we settle with that we will settle the dues of all those who were on the ship."