1947 Ramdas ship disaster
Coordinates: 18°55′N 72°49′E / 18.91°N 72.81°E 1947 Ramdas ship disaster was a ship disaster that occurred near Mumbai in India. The Indian passenger ship SS Ramdas, while bound for Rewas in Maharashtra, capsized on 17 July 1947,[1] near Gull Island (Kashyacha Khadak), ten miles from the Colaba Point at Mumbai killing 625 people on board.
The port authorities knew of the tragedy only when a few of the survivors swam to safety and reached the Sassoon Docks and broke the news at 3 p.m. Most passengers aboard "Ramdas" were from Girgaum and Parel areas. Some of the survivors swam across and reached the northern coast of Raigad near Rewas. Some people have been rescued by fishermen from Rewas. For this noble rescue operation government allotted some land and a jetty to Rewas fisherman, the settlement was subsequently called Bodni.[2]
The wreckage of the ship resurfaced on its own at Ballard Pier off Mumbai Coast ten years later.
The disaster
Ramdas was a coastal passenger ferry owned by the Indian Cooperative Steam Navigation Company. On 17 July 1947, at around 8:05 a.m., while en route from Bombay to Rewas, she was caught in huge monsoon waves. While she was passing the island of Kashacha Khadak, one of the waves caught her on the starboard side, resulting in the passengers rushing to the port side and causing her to capsize.[3] Survivors included the ship's Master Sheikh Suleman Ibrahim, who later provided the facts of the incident, a 10-year-old boy, and Barkya Mukadam from Alibag.
Casualties
Of the 713 passengers on board, as per the Times, 690 died. They were mostly workers from Pen, Roha and Alibag.
References
- ↑ http://wikimapia.org/1149933/Kashacha-Khadak-Ferry-Ramdas-sank-here-drowning-700-persons
- ↑ Interviews with survivors: "Ramdas Botichya Jalasamadhichi Samay Hakikat" (Marathi). Mumbai. 1950.
- ↑ Correspondent, Staff (18 July 1947). "Indian steamer disaster: Nearly 700 drowned". Pg 4 (50816). The Times. Retrieved 18 April 2015.