Indian Navy, Coast Guard Save 14 From Sinking Vessel
In a swift response to an SOS from a distressed offshore coastal vessel, the Indian Navy and Indian coast guard rescued 14 people from the crew of the Indian flag cement carrier ship, MV Coastal Pride, that sunk 75 nautical miles off the coast of Daman, on Wednesday morning.
It was after a call by the vessel, Navy and Coast Guard swung into action to rescue 14 crew members of the vessel. What ensued was a dramatic rescue of 14 crew members.
"In a swift response to an SOS from a distressed offshore coastal vessel MV Coastal Pride, navy and coast guard swung into action and rescued 14 crew members," said navy spokesperson, Captain DK Sharma was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard launched two of its helicopters – Sea King and Chetak – to carry out the rescue operations. Sea King took off from INS Shikra (Naval Air Station), Colaba, at 7:58 am, while the other helicopter – Chetak Helos – took off at 8:04am for rescue operations, carried out 75 nautical miles, off the coast of Daman.
The ship realized it was flooding due to vessel damages while it was waiting for the towing vessel to sail out. “First six crew members were rescued by the coast guard helicopter. Immediately the ship sunk with eight crew members on board. The Indian Navy’s Sea King, winched up six crew members from sea, while the Coast Guard winched another two. All 14 crew members survived and were evacuated at Umargaon,” added the official.
"All crew safely evacuated to Umar Gaon," defence ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar posted on Twitter.
Earlier on Monday, Navy helicopters had rescued 20 persons on board a listing merchant ship “Jindal Kamakshi” off Vasai coast in neighbouring Palghar district.
