2014 Andaman boat disaster was an incident which occurred on 26 January 2014, when a tourist boat capsized near Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India, killing 22 people.[1] The boat "Aqua Marine" was carrying 45 tourists from Tamil Nadu and Mumbai.
Date | January 26, 2014 |
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Location | "Aqua Marine" (tourist boat), near Port Blair, India |
Coordinates | 11°40′41″N 92°45′18″E / 11.678°N 92.755°E |
Cause | Overloading |
Participants | Crew and 45 passengers |
Outcome | Boat capsized |
Deaths | 22[1] |
The boat "Aqua Marine" was carrying 45 tourists from India from Ross Island, Port Blair Tehsil to North Bay when it sank and at least 21 people lost their lives.[2] The capacity of the boat was 25 and overloading of the boat resulted in the tragedy.[2] The boat sank at a distance of about 2.5 km from the shore of Port Blair and majority of the tourists were from Tamil Nadu.[3] The administration of the Island group was busy with Republic Day of India and learnt the news at 4.30 p.m. on 26 January 2014.[3] More than 29 people were rescued by district administration while one was still missing. Rescued were admitted to G B Pant hospital. The boat had no life jackets and there were no divers on board.[4]
Reports say that two months before this accident, a tourist wrote a letter to the union tourism ministry about the lack of safety standards in Andaman islands’ tourism circuit.[5]
Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration announced a 100,000 Indian Rupee ex-gratia payment to the family of the deceased tourists.[2] India's then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa expressed their grief over the accident, while Jayalalithaa also announced a compensation of 100,000 Indian Rupees each to the families of dead.[6] Owner of the boat and two others were detained by the law enforcing agencies for enquiry.[4]