Mumbai: The tragedy struck during a standard sea tour on Wednesday when an Indian Navy speedboat crashed into a tourist’ ferry known as Neelkamal in the Arabian Sea close to Mumbai city, killing more than ten individuals and leaving many more injured. The Neelkamal’s job was to carry 110 passengers from the Gateway of India to the Elephanta Caves, a famous tourist attraction, when the disaster occurred.
India—In an official statement by the Indian Navy, the speedboat was on an engine test run when it struck the larger boat due to a technical malfunction. Nevertheless, the many survivor and bystander accounts have raised doubts as to whether negligence and inadequate safety measures were the main causes of the occurrence of the accident.
It was in the middle of the voyage that the impact, which created the commotion that ensued throughout the vessel, was coupled with the challenges of floating. The survivors detailed the moments before the crash in the accident, and most of them cited that the authorities should not have conducted the speed runs in such a busy waterway area.
Rajiv Mahadevan, a passenger on the Neelkamal, recounted the chaos on board: One among them said, “It sounded like an explosion, and the vessel trembled.” The people were thrown into the water, struggling and crying for help. It all happened so fast. It wasn’t that the engine; it was more of a blatant disregard for the safety of these passengers.”
The eyewitnesses were also forced to swim for a while till different rescue crews arrived on the scene; in the meantime, different fishermen and boats nearby came to the aid of the victims.
The Mumbai Police have opened a formal investigation into the incident and filed an FIR against the operator and other staff who were conducting the trial into this speedboat mishap. These include reckless navigation and endangerment of civilians. It need not be conducted in such a congested area where boats carrying tourists navigate more frequently than the Gateway of India; now the authorities are wondering where it could have been held other than in this crowded sea.
A senior police official remarked, Even if there was a technical malfunction, there is more to it than that; this must prompt the question of why such tasks are permitted in such congested locations.” Measures should have been employed to avoid proximity of civilian boats with those of the naval forces.”
The Indian Navy too has reacted to the issue and has initiated an internal investigation into the circumstances of the incident and assured that everything would be made public. In a statement, the Navy made it clear that the speedboat involved was a Rigid Inflated Boat (RIB), a type of boat that is light, portable, and used for high-performance activities such as patrols and search and rescue.
Rigid inflatable boats are standard equipment in most naval and emergency organisations around the world. Because of their light weight yet strength, they can be used in operations requiring them to move around fast, such as in disaster response and maritime security. The boats incorporate a rigid keel with inflatable tubes for the addition of buoyancy and enhanced manoeuvrability over rough water.
However, the incident that occurred on Wednesday raises more concern about the procedures that are observed during such more sensitive trials and more so in the civilian sea line of control. RIBs are widely recognised to provide outstanding operational performance; however, experts state that engine tests should be performed in limited or exclusionary zones.
A number of the survivors and relatives of the deceased have complained that no sufficient measures were taken to prevent it. “How could one permit a speedboat trial where tourist ferries move on a daily basis?” Many people had warned this was a clear disaster waiting to happen,” said Prakash Joshi, whose nephews remain missing.
Maritime safety specialists also contributed their opinion on the preventable nature of the collision. The use of advanced boats such as RIBs under testing requires a controlled environment. The waters at the Gateway of India are very busy for such exercise,” pointed out Capt. Ramesh Nambiar (Retd), a retired navy captain.
He added that families are mourning their beloved ones while the anger of the public grows by the day. They have committed to actions, but doubts remain over whether stronger measures may have been taken to avoid the disaster.
This occurrence represents a clear pointer to the necessity for standard and exhaustive norms governing naval and civilian functions in those littoral sea areas. The society, on the other hand, needs to be protected during such tests as engine trials or naval exercises that are, for instance, important for the nation’s security.
For now, the focus will be put on the accountability. As police try to establish the sequence of events that led to the crash, calls for safety changes to the operations of the maritime industry in India will begin to increase in the next couple of weeks.
Comments are closed.