The cyclonic storm, circling around 130 kms off Ijha port in the Arabian Sea, is likely to cross over Nalia and Veraval in Saurashtra coast, Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel said.

Meanwhile, in a cyclone-related incident, a steamer Alkasim with 15 crew members on board, has been trapped in the sea as its engine stopped working, Patel told newsmen here this evening.

Efforts are on to tow the ship to the shore, he said. In another incident, two embankments along the coastal villages of Kolak and Maroli in Pardi and Umergoan talukas in Bulsar district were damaged by tidal waves. Sea water entered Mandvi town in Kutch district. Sixty boats were brought back from sea at Porbandar.

According to themeteorological office, the storm has not taken any fixed direction so far, but it could turn to north east and towards the coast between Vervaval and Nalia, Okha and the Gulf of Kutch.

Due to its stagnant position, strong winds with speeds reaching 60 to 65 kms per hour were blowing across the coast.

The tidal waves were at a height of 2.5 to three meters and in Kandla, the wave height would go up to six to seven meters, Patel said.