As a result of strong winds caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, a Bangladeshi merchant ship ran aground in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday. The 80-meter-long ship, with a crew of 16 members, drifted ashore the Tenneti Park beach near Kailasagiri, Visakhapatnam after losing its anchors due to the heavy winds.
The ship from Bangladesh had reached Visakhapatnam port from Bangladesh a week ago, and was anchored here after unloading its cargo. However, the ship, ‘MV MAA’, lost both its anchors under the impact of the heavy winds, The Times of India reported.
According to reports, the vessel drifted towards and ran aground the beach at around 2.30 am. The incident turned into a spectacle, and large crowds gathered around to witness it. Authorities informed the Indian Coast Guard about the ship drifting away.
In a similar incident that occurred a year ago, a Malaysian cargo ship going to Visakhapatnam went astray and drifted to Chilika Lake in Odisha after being caught in the high tide and storm.
A depression over West-central Bay of Bengal is moving west-northwestwards with a speed of 3 kmph. The depression is very likely to intensify into a deep depression in the next 12 hours, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had said on Monday.
They also predict that the depression is likely to move west-northwestwards and cross the north Andhra Pradesh coast, between Narsapur and Vishakhapatnam and close to Kakinada, on Tuesday early morning. This might be because a trough runs from the cyclonic circulation along coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, coastal and north-interior Karnataka, between 3.1 km and 5.8 km above mean sea level.
They also said that a fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over north Andaman Sea and its neighbourhood around Thursday. Fishermen are warned against venturing into the sea on Tuesday as conditions are likely to be very rough along coastal Andhra Pradesh. Wind speeds reaching 55-75 kmph have been forecasted along this region.