Coast Guard and Naval personnel carry the body of a sailor killed in the Arcadia Pride ship disaster to INS Kunjali on Saturday. The body was found floating 18 nautical miles off the Worli coast.

MUMBAI, June 21: The body of a sailor was recovered by the Coast Guard this morning even as attempts by deep-sea divers to remove bodies from the ill-fated M V Arcadia Pride continued.

The Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) Sindhu 10 on Oil and Natural Gas Corporation charter has been moved into the area with deep-sea divers and equipment to search the sunken vessel for casualties. Heavy swells is believed to be preventing operations from getting underway, sources disclosed.

Despite bad weather, the Coast Guard offshore patrol Vessel Vigrha located the casualty around 8 am today. The body was found floating 18 nautical miles off the Worli coast. The body was airlifted by a helicopter to naval air station INS Kunjali from where it was taken to St George hospital, Coast Guard sources revealed.

A defence spokesman told this newspaper that search operations will continue till tomorrow. Naval vessel INS Matanga and Seaking helicopters are scouring the area for survivors, confirmed the spokesman.

Meanwhile, the threat of an oil slick hitting the city's coastline appears to have receded with regular spraying of dispersants by Dornier aircrafts which have been flying sorties from their base at Daman, Gujarat. The patrol vessels and the helicopters have been assisting in the clean-up operations.

Coast Guard officials added that the spill trajectory has been located about eight nautical miles north of Mumbai. ``It is not the oil from the ship tank but some release from the bilge. Emergency response will wipe the slick in the next two days,'' said a pollution response team officer, ``There is no real threat to the city's shores,'' he added.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.