mumbai

Updated: May 26, 2018 00:06 IST

A floating restaurant off the Mumbai coast near Bandra, The Ark Deck Bar, capsized on Friday evening. The 15 people on board, all staff members, were rescued in time, said fire brigade officials.

According to eyewitnesses, the ship started to drift backwards around afternoon.

A motorist driving on the Bandra-Worli sea link noticed that the ship was sinking, and informed the fire brigade and police.

“We had no information. We called the Bandra police who checked the CCTV footage and confirmed the ship was sinking. We didn’t know it was a floating restaurant,” said R Chaudhari, deputy chief fire officer, Mumbai fire brigade.

“The ship capsized around 7.15pm. Some of the crew members jumped off the ship and swam towards the shore. We ensured all of them were safe,” said Chaudhari.

Pritam Adhav, owner of Ark Deck Bar, said, “This is my private matter. I don’t wish to comment on the incident.”

Contrary to the fire officer’s claims, Mahesh Rai, manager of the floatel, said, “Only seven crew members were on board. Nobody was hurt. The resto-bar was to open at 5pm. It was our last day before shutting for the monsoon.”

The floating restaurant docks for four months every year and reopens on October 1.

While speaking to HT, an eye-witness and an employee of the bar, Aman Shah, said, “Around 2pm, the winds got stronger. That is when the boat started to tilt. The anchor, too, started to shake, after which it overturned.”

According to the captain’s statement to police, the ship was anchored at its usual position.

“The winds caused the anchor to slip. The ship started to slip backwards towards Mahim Bay. A rock scraped its bottom and punctured a hole into it. The water then began to seep in,” he said.

Paramjit Dahiya, deputy commissioner of police, zone 9, said, “We have recorded the captain’s statement. No complaints or FIRs have been lodged yet.”