Survivor of tugboat Varaprada recalls horror during Cyclone Tauktae

Seaman Saheb Bhunia said he was numb to answer calls he received from the families of other crew members. “I received a call from my friend Rakesh's mother. I was not able to give her any answer,” he said. 

Navy ship INS Makar on Monday located tugboat Varaprada seven days after it went adrift in the Arabian Sea during Cyclone Tauktae. A joint team of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard rescued 188 survivors and recovered bodies of 70 others who lost their lives in the cyclonic storm. There were 274 people onboard the two vessels including 13 crew members. Eleven of them lost their lives. The two survivors among the crew members were chief engineer Francis Simon, 50, and seaman Saheb Bhunia, 23, who shared his experience while speaking to India Today. Saheb Bhunia said, “Our captain didn’t get permission to enter the JNPT [Jawaharlal Nehru Port off Navi Mumbai]. In the sea, the rule is that the first priority is to save lives and then follow rules. But that didn’t happen with us.”