Coast Guard rescues 22 crew members from sinking merchant ship off Porbandar coast in Gujarat

The Indian Coast Guard ICG on Wednesday rescued 22 crew members from a sinking merchant vessel off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat in a sea-air coordinated operation, officials said.The swift action of the ICG amid adverse weather saved the lives of 22 crew members, including a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan, who are safe and are being brought to Porbandar.A Dornier aircraft and indigenously-built twin-engine Advanced Light Helicopters were involved in the search and rescue operation.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Wednesday rescued 22 crew members from a sinking merchant vessel off the Porbandar coast in Gujarat in a sea-air coordinated operation, officials said.

The swift action of the ICG amid adverse weather saved the lives of 22 crew members, including a Pakistani and a Sri Lankan, who are safe and are being brought to Porbandar.

A Dornier aircraft and indigenously-built twin-engine Advanced Light Helicopters were involved in the search and rescue operation. Around 8.20 am, the ICG received a distress alert about uncontrolled flooding onboard merchant vessel Global King-1, which was reportedly 185 km off the Porbandar coast, the ICG release stated.

Despite the adverse weather conditions at the time, a Dornier aircraft was launched from the ICG Air Station Porbandar to assess the situation and relay information to the vessels in the vicinity, it said.

The Dornier, on reaching the area, dropped a life raft for the crew, it said.

ICG Ship Shoor, CG Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), which was already at sea, was also directed to immediately reach the area. The ICG ship braving very rough seas proceeded to the area with maximum speed, the release said.

The indigenously-built twin engine Advanced Light Helicopters from ICG Air Station Porbandar were also launched in Search & Rescue (SAR) configuration for any eventuality.

The crew, after failing to stop the flooding, abandoned the vessel. The helicopters operated close to their operational maxima and braved squally weather and strong winds to reach the area, it further said.

Thereafter, in a sea-air coordinated effort, all 22 personnel (20 Indian, one Pakistani and one Sri Lankan) were successfully rescued.

The merchant vessel was transporting 6,000 tonne bitumen from Khor Fakkan (UAE) to Karwar (Karnataka), it was stated. Earlier in the day, an IMD official had said that extremely heavy rainfall may occur On July 8 and 9 at some places in Porbandar and five other districts due to the low-pressure area over the Kutch region.

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