Haldia, July 21 :    Haldia, July 21:  More than 700 people aboard MV Harshavardhan, one of the largest passenger liners to touch Calcutta, had a narrow escape today when the vessel ran aground near Geonkhali in the Calcutta-Haldia shipping channel around 7 am. The ship, on its way to Port Blair from Calcutta with 602 passengers and 105 crew on board, ploughed into heavy silt about 100 metres from the Geonkhali embankment near the confluence of the Hooghly, the Damodar and the Rupnarayan rivers. The ship's hull hit the raised river bed and its nose got stuck as it was trying to negotiate a stretch where the depth had been reduced to only around seven metres due to accumulating silt, Haldia sub-divisional police officer B. Bej said. The ship was not damaged and was journey-worthy, officials said. All passengers - there are 11 children among them - and members of the crew were safe and would continue the journey after the ship was freed. The fact that the channel was not conducive to the movement of big liners and Calcutta Port Trust's inability to handle a mishap became clear when the latter said they would have to wait for high tide to pull the ship out. A single CPT tug had tried to pull the ship free, but failed. A second tug had to be requisitioned. A CPT spokesperson said both tugs would be pressed into service late tonight after the onset of high tide for another concerted effort to get the vessel going. The ship's nose hit the riverbed around 7 am when the passengers - mostly headed for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for a vacation - were still sleeping. But a few already on the decks were thrown off balance and panicked when the ship rammed into the sand bars. A Coast Guard hovercraft and police were immediately pressed into service after the liner's captain sent a distress signal, explaining the ship's position. 'The ship has run into heavy silt and seems to have been stuck,' the radio message from the ship's control room said. 'The underwater compartments are holding up, but we need immediate help,' it added. The hovercraft under Commandant R.K. Cherian was on routine patrol when it intercepted the message, and it reached the ship within minutes. He contacted the captain and sent an SOS for additional help. Coast Guard commander R.K. Wadhwa and other officials went aboard the MV Harshavardhan to assess the situation and calm the nervous passengers. On the banks, police had a much tougher time controlling the surging crowd. Tamluk CPM MP Lakshman Seth added fuel to the fire when he made an impromptu speech, attacking the Centre for not releasing adequate funds for desilting and dredging of the channel. 'The latest CAG report says there is still around 9 million cubic metres of silt in the channel,' he said, adding that he had written to the Andaman and Nicobar Shipping Corporation to restrict shipping via the channel.