Calcutta, Dec. 7: A ship with 12 tourists who had planned to go scuba diving in the deep seas and a couple headed for Havelock are among the several hundred visitors stranded in the Andamans because of heavy rain caused by a deep depression.

Tourists on board a ship that was to take them to the deep seas for diving said they could see smaller fishing boats docked in the Port Blair harbour rocking like they do in the deep seas.

"The smaller vessels and fishing boats are rocking in the water in front of me. Usually, the water in the harbour is calm but today the condition is like that of the deep sea, where there is always a rolling in all weather conditions. I can only imagine what it is like in the deep waters," Sunil Bakshi, the CEO of Infiniti Live Aboard, told Metro from the stranded ship on Wednesday evening.

The 37-metre ship has on board 30 people. The tourists have not been able to step out on the deck and stand there for long as heavy rain and strong winds lashed the ship's metal body.

They had to stay indoors for most of Wednesday, playing games, watching TV or chatting.

"The rains and wind are so heavy that it's not possible to stand on the deck. The wind speed is about 60kmph. The harbour is a safe place but here, too, there is turbulence now," Bakshi said.

The ship was to set sail to four islands - Sinque, Passage, Havelock and The Sisters - on Wednesday on a six-night trip for deep-sea diving. The 12 tourists had boarded the ship on Tuesday afternoon.

"The port authorities told us that there were heavy winds on the Nicobar islands and a deep depression was developing.

"Some ships going in the same direction were asked to return to the harbour," Bakshi said.

The ship now plans to set sail on Friday if the weather conditions improve.

The rough weather has scuttled the plans of many like Sudhindranath Chatterjee, who arrived in Port Blair along with his wife on Wednesday morning. The couple were to head for Havelock island.

Most of the tourists are stranded at Havelock and Neil islands, about 50km from Port Blair, the two most popular tourist destinations in the Andamans that are accessible only by small ships and helicopters.

"We were told that the vessel's trip has been cancelled because of the weather. We had a 10-day holiday plan," said Chatterjee, a Pune resident. He, too, had hoped to try scuba diving but had to put off the plan. "The diving company officials said there won't be any diving activities for three days," Chatterjee said.

The couple had wanted to return to Mumbai on Wednesday but could not do so as the Jet Airways flight from Chennai couldn't land.

"The airline has accommodated us on tomorrow's flight to Calcutta and onwards to Mumbai," he said.

Some airlines have waived charges for cancellation and rescheduling.

"Keeping the situation in mind, we have decided to waive all these charges. Many passengers stranded on Havelock and Neil islands couldn't reach the airport and were forced to miss the flight," said an Air India official.