Rajnagar: Twenty five passengers aboard the ML-Ganga had a harrowing experience when the government motorboat got lost in mid-sea for more than three hours Friday. They were rescued by personnel of the Dhamara Marine police station and a big tragedy was averted.
Sources said that the boat, travelling from Talachua jetty in Kendrapara to Chandbali in Bhadrak started on its journey at around 6.15am in the morning. However, few minutes into the journey, the boat was engulfed by a dense fog and lost its way. As the GPRS system in the boat was not functional, it became very difficult to locate the exact position of the carrier.
Once people aboard realised that the boat had lost its way, they contacted authorities at the two jetties over phone. But even then it took more than three hours for the rescue team to locate the stranded boat because of the dense fog. Finally after hours of anxiety, the passengers breathed a sigh of relief when a speedboat, another launch and personnel from Dhamara Marine police station reached the spot.
PNN