VISAKHAPATNAM: The Indian Coast Guard officials rescued 15 fishermen of MFB Mohan Raj that got stranded in high seas due to machinery breakdown. The 20-metre-long fishing boat, registered in Tamil Nadu, had ventured into sea for fishing on June 16 from Nagapatnam with 15 crew on board and CG team from Kakinada had rescued the fishermen braving rough winds.
The CG headquarters, in a release on Friday, said on Thursday, while the Ops Centre at District Headquarters (AP) monitored a stationary contact for 5-6 hours. On investigation, it was found the MFB was stranded in the rough sea due to a technical snag. The boat crew requested for assistance and the transmission was picked up by the CG’s Remote Operating Station. The headquarters directed a Kakinada-based CG ship, to render assistance.
ICGS Rajdhwaj under the command of Commandant (JG) Vivek Sharma sailed in the night and reached the boat at around 4 am. The exhausted fishermen were provided with medical aid and food. The efforts to rectify the snag failed in view of major breakdown in clutching mechanism.
The ICGS Rajdhwaj decided to take FB under tow. Care was taken not to damage the boat. Operations officer of Coast Guard District Headquarters No.6 (AP), Visakhapatnam, Commandant SS Singh, lauded the efforts of ICGS Rajdhwaj and said that while Coast Guard is duty bound to provide assistance to fishermen in distress at sea, but carrying out operations to save many lives in danger gives special feeling to all Coast Guardians.