india

Updated: Aug 03, 2019 15:42 IST

A Surat-based Merchant Navy ship beached at Varor coast, 120 km north of Mumbai Saturday morning after a rough sea pushed it over rocky stretch, police said.

The 1,478-tonne MV Nand Aparna was sailing from Alibaug to Hazira port in Surat when it beached in rough weather.

“We were informed by one Sagar Kadu and we rushed to the spot and contacted Captain V V Pillai who was commanding the ship. The ship has 13 crew members. We have informed the owner of the ship, Eco Pronch Logistics Limited,Hazira, Surat,” said Rahul Patil, assistant police inspector of Vangaon police station.

The 78-metre-long ship was carrying around 2,000 tonnes of steel coils from Hazira to Dharmantar port in Alibaug and was re returning to Surat after unloading the steel cargo, Capt Pillai said.

“We left Alibaug on Friday evening and we were supposed to reach Hazira port on Sunday morning. Around 1:30 am there was heavy rain with gusty wind and rough sea conditions and by 4:30 am we hit a rocky barrier near Varor coast,” the ship’s commander said.

One of the propeller blades got damaged but a crew member said they expect to each Hazira and repair the blade. “We are waiting for clear weather so we could tug our ship back to sea,” he said.

Locals who rarely find such huge ships drifting to shore made a beeline to click selfies as huge waves crashed on shore.