Ferries got stuck due to marine congestion: Report

PANAJI: Marine congestion in Mandovi river was one of the main reasons for the two ill-fated ferries ‘Mandovi’ and ‘Bandora’ to be stuck mid-river on Thursday, sources from the river navigation department said. This was submitted in the report of the ferry drifting incident which was sent to the Captain of Ports (CoP).While ‘Mandovi’ was salvaged and brought to the Betim jetty that midnight, ‘Bandora’ managed to be rescued by Friday afternoon by the Goa coastal police and river navigation department.“With two offshore casinos in close proximity, the ‘Mandovi’ could not maneuver itself out of the situation, thus leading it to helplessly drift before running aground. The ‘Bandora’ which would’ve managed to rescue ‘Mandovi’ succumbed to the ropes of the other boats. It was congestion that caused the two ferries to be stuck in the river for so long,” a river navigation official said.Following the incident, the chief minister, Manohar Parrikar sought a detailed report, which was submitted to the CoP on Friday .STOI had reported on October 27 that ‘Mandovi’ was operating on the route as usual when rainfall followed by heavy winds caused ‘Mandovi’ to drift from its regular course while reversing from the Panaji ramp. The vessel drifted sideways and ran aground near Campal.The river navigation department sent the other ferry on the route, ‘Bandora’, to tow it away. However, it too met with a similar fate when the latter got entangled with the ropes of buoys of small boats.Perched on the slipway at Betim, it took 10 people to remove the entangled ropes from ‘Bandora’ following which, the ferry resumed its activity on the Panaji-Betim route, sources from the department said. Besides 100 people, there were a total of 39 two-wheelers and one cycle on board. Owners of the vehicles arrived at the site to claim their respective two-wheelers from 9.30am onwards on Friday. The last two-wheeler was claimed at 8pm on Saturday.Besides the marine traffic, the report also highlighted that the Panaji side of the river usually has a huge underwater current, due to which operating without caution is not advisable.“A ferry has to consider whether the current was upstream or downstream, judgement of which the coxswain has. Considering the unfavourable weather on that day, and the heavy rush due to peak hour, the coxswain should not have released the ferry until the strong wind had subsided. Presence of mind is required for such things,” an official said.