BHUBANESWAR: THE Indian Coast Guard’s (ICG) advanced light helicopter on Monday evacuated an injured Myanmar national from a vessel of Singapore, about 80 nautical mile (148 km) east-northeast of Paradip.
Motor tanker GB Venture had developed a mechanical snag and was anchored about 40.5 nautical mile south of Sagar. One crew member Than Htike Lwin sustained blunt abdominal trauma while carrying out maintenance of a hydraulic pipeline.
Lwin complained of severe pain in the abdomen and also faced difficulty in breathing. The master of GB Venture vessel, which was reportedly carrying oil to Haldia, requested Sagar vessel traffic management system for his immediate evacuation.
As Lwin was in persistent pain, ICG’s medical officer in Haldia asked the master of the vessel to provide him first aid to stabilise his health condition. The Indian Coast Guard Air Enclave in Bhubaneswar then deployed an advanced light helicopter (ALH) to evacuate him. Two coast guard ships operating in the sea were also diverted towards the motor tanker to render necessary assistance.
The ICG’s helicopter arrived on the spot at 10.10 am and evacuated Lwin from the vessel about 20 minutes later. He was brought to Bhubaneswar at 11.40 am and shifted to a private hospital here. Lwin’s health condition is stated to be stable.
A senior officer of the coast guard said ,”The swift medical evacuation at sea has once again reaffirmed ICG’s steadfast resolve towards providing support to mariners in distress and reiterated its commitment towards ensuring safety of lives, true to its motto Vayam Rakshamah.”
The incident comes weeks after the death of Russian engineer Milyakov Sergey. He was found dead on a ship off the Paradip coast in Jagatsinghpur district on January 3. His postmortem report indicated that he died of cardiac arrest.