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Mumbai: 13 dead as Navy speed boat hits a passenger ferry
13 persons, an officer of the Indian Navy and two contractual Naval personnel were killed when a naval speed boat which was running engine test run slammed into a passenger boat when Neel Kamal with more than 100 passengers on board which was coming from Gateway of India to Elephanta Island on Wednesday afternoon.
The passenger ferry had set sail at 3:15pm and the mid-sea crash occurred at 3:55pm, which had many passengers on board. Finally at 4.00 PM, the rescue team, which was boarding a pilot vessel of Jawaharlal Nehru Authority (JNPA) – nearby the accident site managed to saved 56 numbers of passengers.
A statement issued by Navy said: “At about 1600 hours on December 18, 2024, a Navy craft (speedboat) undergoing engine trials lost control and collided with a passenger ferry, Neel Kamal, off Butcher Island. Four naval helicopters, 11 naval crafts (vessels), three Coast Guard boats and an equal number of Marine Police boats were involved in the rescue efforts.”
Shortly after, some few private boats embarked on the exercise and were later accompanied by naval, coast guards and marine police force. Preliminary investigation carried out by the navy has indicated that the engine of the Naval vessel had developed a fault, informed sources.
The Chief minister of Maharastra state Devendra Fadnavis and the Indian Navy have initiated two two distinct investigations of the incident. Soon after the incident, a message was sent to the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) of the Indian Navy and four helicopters dispatched to search the missing.
CM Devendra Fadnavis announced an ex-gratia payment of ₹5 lakh for families of the deceased and assured a thorough investigation by local authorities and the Navy, to uncover the cause of the collision and assess if there were any lapses in safety protocols. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also announced ₹2 lakh from the PM relief fund, for the families of the dead, and ₹50,000 for the injured.
Rajendra Padte, owner of Neel Kamal, told that the boat had capacity to carry 130 people and there were around 80 passengers and five crew members on board at the time of the accident. “Our boat is equipped with all safety equipment like lifejackets. When I was informed about the accident, I rushed to the spot. The video doing the rounds shows that the boat from Navy dashed into the ferry,” said Padte.
Ashok Rao, one of survivors, disputed Padte’s claim, as he said, the vessel was carrying “more than 100 people, of which around 10 to 12 were children”. “We were not wearing lifejackets. Soon after the accident, within the blink of an eye we found ourselves in water. I swam for 15 minutes and got onto a small boat. There was chaos all around. I am worried about the children. Several people might have lost their lives,” said Rao.
An investigating officer from Colaba police said “the boat was overcrowded and there was not enough safety gear for all”. This was corroborated by an MMB officer. “While the operator of the boat said the vessel had a capacity to hold 85 to 90 people, and had more than 100 life jackets, the number of rescued were over 110 persons,” he said, adding the board had begun investigation into the exact number of passengers in the ferry.