NEW DELHI: In a swift humanitarian response, the Indian Navy deployed its Air Maritime Reconnaissance assets in the Southern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) to search for a Chinese fishing vessel which sank with 39 crew on board.
The vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028, sank approximately 900 nautical miles from India with the crew including nationals from China, Indonesia and Philippines.
The Indian Navy said, “P8I aircraft have carried out multiple and extensive searches despite adverse weather and located multiple objects possibly belonging to the sunken vessel.” The P-8I aircraft is the Indian Navy’s long-range, multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft.
In addition, as an immediate response, “Search and rescue (SAR) equipment was deployed at the scene by the Indian aircraft on request of PLA (N) ships closing the area,” the Navy added.
In a display of India’s obligations as a credible and responsible partner for ensuring safety at sea, the Indian Navy units also coordinated SAR efforts with other units in the area and guided the PLA (N) warships transiting to the scene of the incident, said the Indian Navy.
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“The Indian Navy continues to remain deployed to provide all possible assistance to the ongoing SAR efforts,” it added.
The Indian Ocean Region comprises the Indian Ocean and the countries that border it including Australia, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Madagascar, Somalia, Tanzania, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The Indian Ocean is the third largest water body in the world with vital sea lanes of communication crisscrossing it and plays an important role in running Asia’s largest economies. Other than the commercial fishing done in the area, around 80 per cent of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes through this ocean which is the connecting link between the east and the west.