Andhra Pradesh boat tragedy: Experts pull out parts of ‘Royal Vasishta’

By Express News Service

RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: Monday saw an improvement in the retrieval works of Royal Vasishta boat, the private tourist boat which capsized in River Godavari on September 15, as some parts of the boat were successfully pulled out. Along with the scuba divers called from Visakhapatnam, Dharmadi Satyam’s team continued their efforts but were unable to completely retrieve the boat on Monday.

It was reported that the top cover of the boat, steering, gear rod and iron railing were pulled out. “Owing to the boat’s huge weight, of about 100 metric tonnes (MTs), it has become difficult to move the boat inside the river,” Satyam, leader of the team sent by Balaji Marine, said. The workers and divers have been trying to pull the boat out by anchoring it with an iron rope. But, so far it has not moved at all.  

It was learnt that the boat is at 50 feet depth currently and around 20 feet away from the bund near Kachaluru in Devipatnam mandal. Satyam said that his team will continue the rescue operations on Tuesday to bring out the boat.

He said, “We will not leave any stone unturned to achieve success, and in all likeliness, we’ll be successful by Tuesday or Wednesday.”The tourist boat capsized near Kachaluru in Devipatnam mandal of the East Godavari district last month. After rescuing survivors and retrieving bodies of tourists and boat staff on board, till date 13 remain missing. 

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