On Sunday a Coast Guard helicopter carried out an aerial sortie of the ship which revealed that the ship was abandoned by the crew. "A salvaging operation may be carried out after the completion of survey," Coast Guard officials said.

According to sources in the Coast Guard, the stricken vessel was on its final voyage to scrapyard in Alang near Bhavnagar in Gujarat. It was being towed by M V Sigri from Colombo in Sri Lanka, which was its last port of call, sources revealed. The master of M V Sigri which was towing the ship said M V Meng Kiat broke its mooring due to rough weather about 20 nautical miles off the Mumbai coast when she was being towed. The ship probably drifted towards the coast due to strong currents and grounded. Meanwhile, the district authorities and the police are maintaining a strict vigil over the abandoned ship.