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Publishers Goa,1556 and Goa's largest bookshop, Broadway Book Centre
jointly launch a new book club focused entirely on writing about Goa
First meeting: November 18, 2010 @ 5pm @ Broadway, 18th June Road, Panaji
Details at: http://ttt-goa.notlong.com or SMS 9822122436
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Trouble at sea forces ship to return
Andrew Pereira, TNN, Nov 17, 2010, 05.49am IST
PANAJI: Passengers aboard the Goa-Mumbai cruise liner making its maiden
journey to Mumbai had a harrowing time on Monday night. Trouble
commenced around 90 minutes after the ship left Mormugao port on its
return leg to Mumbai carrying around 250 passengers. "The ship left Goa
at 10 pm. Around 11.45pm, some 50 of us passengers were in the
restaurant while the rest were asleep. That's when we startedto feel
that the ship was tilting to one side," Manish Thacker, 42, from
Kandla-Gujarat, who was on the ship told TOI.
"The staff asked us to stay calm as it would create panic among others.
A little while later, sea water entered into our cabins," Thacker said.
Blue Ocean Cruises officials say, the ship had reached 30 nautical miles
from shore, when the incident occurred. "We will re-imburse additional
travel expenses borne by our passengers. We cannot comment on the cause
of the incident as the inspection report is yet to be received," a
company official said.
Recounting what had tak-en place, Thacker said, " We were informed that
the ship had developed a crack, and seawater was entering our cabins
through the water fixtures as the ship had tilted. Suddenly, table
drawers started flying out, closets opened with stuff falling and we had
a hard time closing the doors on the side the ship was tilting."
"It was like a scene from the Titanic," said Nirmal Jadeja, 50, from
Kandla-Gujarat. The ship's captain decided to return to Goa and alerted
theMPT authorities. A tug boat was sent out to pilot the ship safely
back to the harbour, passengers said.
"We pulled into the harbour at around 4am. Many passengers did not know
what was going on and only understood the gravity of the situation
then," Thacker added. Passengers were shifted to a hotel at Vainguinim
beach, Dona Paula, at around 7am, and almost 80% of them left for Mumbai
by bus on Tuesday, while the rest took available seats on flights.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Trouble-at-sea-forces-ship-to-return/articleshow/6939045.cms#ixzz15Vj2qSaJ
