ICG responds to fire on fishing boat off Gujarat coast, sends ships, chopper; all seven crew rescued

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued seven crew members of a fishing boat after it caught fire in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast on Monday.

The ICG Maritime Rescue Sub Centre (MRSC) at Porbandar received a distress alert around 9:45 am regarding a fire on board 'Jay Bhole' 50 kilometres off the coast, the ICG said in a release.

Interceptor Class Ships C-161 and C-156 were immediately diverted and an Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) launched from ICG Air Station at Porbandar to carry out a rescue operation, the force's release said.

''Upon reaching the site at around 10:20 am, the ICG teams found the crew had abandoned the boat after failing to douse the fire. Out of the seven crew on board, two were rescued by a dinghy boat operating nearby and five others were missing. Thereafter, in an arduous sea-air coordinated effort of approximately two hours, all five missing crew were found and airlifted by the ICG helicopter,'' it said.

All five crew were brought to Porbandar at 1pm, while one of the two persons rescued by the dinghy boat was found to be seriously injured, the release informed.

''The injured crew was taken onboard ICG ship C-161. After preliminary medical treatment at sea by ICG team, the crew was brought to Porbandar for further treatment,'' it said.

The ICG has saved more than 60 lives at sea off Gujarat in the last eight months, the release said.

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