The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Sunday evening rescued 11 people from a sinking merchant vessel in the Bay of Bengal through a coordinated sea and air search and rescue operation. The merchant vessel was en route from Kolkata to Port Blair, officials said. The ICG ships Sarang and Amogh, supported by a Dornier aircraft, carried out the operation in extremely rough sea conditions. According to the Coast Guard, the merchant vessel, ITT Puma, sank 90 nautical miles (nm) south of Sagar Island.
ICG ships and aircraft began rescue operations
On social media platform X, ICG said: “The Indian Coast Guard conducted an unprecedented swift night operation, rescuing 11 precious lives in a coordinated sea and air search and rescue (SAR) operation. The MV ITT PUMA was reported to have sunk 90 nautical miles (nm) south of Sagar Island, while en route from Kolkata to Port Blair. Indian Coast Guard ships Sarang and Amogh along with a CG Dornier aircraft carried out this operation in extremely adverse sea conditions.”
The ICG rescues a boat with nine crew members
On August 24, the ICG Dornier detected the IFB Angel drifting due to an engine defect, about 70 km southeast of Diu. Soon the information was relayed to the ICG’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Sub-Centre (MRCSC) at Pipavav, following which, the ICG ship Rajratan was diverted to assist the distressed IFB with 09 crew amidst rough seas. The ship was subsequently safely towed to Jafarabad. Notably, the new state-of-the-art building of the MRCSC at Chennai was inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on August 18. The ICG has been actively manoeuvring in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal to deal with any uncertainties.
On July 19, a major fire broke out on the merchant vessel MV Maersk Frankfurt off the coast of Karnataka. The cargo ships were carrying 1,154 containers, some of them containing hazardous cargoes such as benzene and sodium cyanate. After days of work and a coordinated air and sea operation, the ICG managed to douse the fire.
(With ANI inputs)
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