Operations are on to rescue 15 crew members of ship Pratibha Cauvery that ran aground here as cyclone Nilam hit Tamil Nadu coast on Wednesday afternoon, said an official, even as a person died in the mishap and the fate of six people was not immediately known.
Speaking to IANS, the Indian Coast Guard official said: "Search and rescue operations are on for the crew who decided to abandon the ship."
Earlier, cyclone Nilam crossed the Tamil Nadu coast north of Chennai Wednesday evening between Mamallapuram and Kalpakkam with strong winds battering the area.
The official said that still "fifteen members of the crew are on the ship". Efforts have been stepped up to rescue them.
The Pratibha Cauvery belonging to Mumbai-based Pratibha Shipping with 37 member crew ran aground here.
For reasons yet not known, out of these 37 people, 22 members of the crew decided to abandon the ship in a life boat, officials of Coast Guard and the Chennai Port Trust told IANS.
Unfortunately the life boat capsized with the crew. Out of the 22 who left the ship on the life boat, 16 people were rescued and admitted to an hospital. The fate of six people is not known, officials said.
"Sixteen people were brought here out of which one was brought dead. Three people are in the intensive care unit (ICU)," S. Narasimhan, senior executive, patient care told IANS.
A Chennai Port Trust official said Pratibha Cauvery can be used like a life boat in a condition like this and it is not known why the crew came down on another boat.
"We are in the process of gathering information. We also do not know why the crew came down in a life boat," Nilkanth, director at Pratibha Shipping told IANS over phone.
According to a Chennai Port official, Pratibha Cauvery was proceeding to Mumbai after discharging its cargo at the port.
The ship returned as it was called back by the Chennai Port Oct 8, the official said.
He said the ship's engine was not powerful enough to counter the strong winds and it started drifting towards the shore.
According to him, the possibility of the Japanese-built ship sailing back depends on the extent of the damage the vessel has suffered.
According to Chennai Port officials, all the ships at the harbour were asked to go out into the sea as a safety measure.