Body of fourth sailor of stranded ship found in Chennai

Chennai, Nov 3: The body of a fourth

of MT Pratibha Cauvery, the

which was grounded by

, has been spotted here. He is one of the five crew members who went missing on Wednesday after the lifeboat in which they were trying to leave the ship capsized. Bodies of three of his colleagues were found on Friday. Search was on for the fifth member of the missing lot.

While one of the sailor's body was washed ashore near Chennai harbour, the second body was found near Adyar Estuary. The third body was found at the sea later. All the three bodies were yet to be identified. The ship ran aground near Besant Nagar beach on Wednesday after being hit by the cyclone.

The vessel had 37 crew members on board out of which 16 managed to escape. One person drowned while five others went missing. Coast Guard helicopters rescued the rest of the 15 who were left stranded in the ship.

The ship's captain had sought assistance during the cyclone but the coastal authorities could not launch rescue operations immediately due to the rough weather. The initial rescue operations had been started by the local fishermen.

Chennai Port authorities said the ship's captain had ignored alarm to leave for safe waters following the alert. Meanwhile, family of one of the sailors who died while trying to flee the ship moved the Madras High Court alleging that the ship was not fit for sea trips and had no fuel or food on board. The family, in its petition, has sought an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh and an eventual payment of Rs 1 crore.

The court, in its response, has instructed not to move the ship from its current location.

OneIndia News