Salvage team on board fire-ravaged merchant vessel
Kolkata, June 19: A salvage team went on board merchant vessel SSL Kolkata on Monday for the first time since the fire fighting operation in the ship to make an assessment of the situation created by the June 14 blaze, a Defence Ministry spokesperson said.
The team was taken on board ICGS RajKiran from Haldia and transferred onto the Platform support vessel Lewek Alatair. On reaching a safe distance from MV SSL Kolkata, the members of the salvage team were lowered onto a yet smaller boat that too then alongside the ship.
The members spent some time on board MV SSL Kolkata and returned to the platform support vessel, the spokesperson said.
The Coast Guard's Dornier helicopter, which was operating overhead all this while, reported very little smoke still emanating from the distressed vessel.
Inspector General Kuldeep Singh Sheoran, the Coast Guard's regional commander here, said an additional salvage team from Holland will land in Kolkata on Wednesday morning and its members would be taken on board a Coast Guard ship to MV SSL Kolkata for further management of salvage operations.
No Coast Guard personnel boarded the ship along with the salvage team.
Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force MI 17 helicopter that had been holding position at Frasergunj returned to Barrackpore without carrying out any further Bambi bucket operation.
On Sunday, the ministry had announced that the fire had been extinguished.
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
