MANGALURU: Indian Coast Guard rescued fishermen from Tamilnadu 140 miles west off New Mangalore Port after their fishing boat wad caught on fire on Sunday.
A message was received by MRCC from Prof Antony Raj stating that Tamilnadu fishing boat had a massive fire due to cylinder burst onboard IND – TN-15 -MM-5297 named IFB AVKM. Apparently, the fishing boat had 11 fishermen crew onboard. MRCC Mumbai immediately swung into action and diverted two offshore patrol vessels namely Sachet and Sujeet patrolling in area for immediate assistance. In addition, ISN was also activated to seek assistance from passing by merchant ships to which two merchant ships responded. However, the ICG with State of Art ship proceeded to datum with maximum speed within 3 hours from the time the message was received.
Indian Coast Guard, aircraft CG Dornier patrolling in the Arabian Seas in the wee hours of Sunday was diverted to vector the distressed fishing boat. Later CG Dornier spotted the fishing boat in approximate position 140 nautical miles West off new Mangaluru port. A two-way communication was established on VHF Channel with fishermen to ascertain the casualty status and be of moral support to the Fishermen.
ICGS Sachet and Sujeet reached the datum and immediately assessed the casualty and evacuated the severely injured and administered medical management. Braving the high seas, the ship headed to new Mangaluru port for further specialised hospital management in respect of the casualty. Coast Guard Karnataka, without wasting much of time had liaised with NMPT for berthing assistance and government Hospital Wenlock for specialised medical care.