Chennai: The Indian Coast Guard swiftly coordinated the rescue of a 10-member fishing boat crew after the vessel was flooded and brought them back here safely on Thursday. The Coast Guard's ships and merchant vessels participated in the operation where eight fishermen were rescued. However, one fisherman died and another is missing, for whom a search and rescue operation is continuing.
The mission started immediately after the CG received a distress message on Wednesday from a Chennai fishing boat, 'Periya Nayagi' stranded about 60 nautical miles east of Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) diverted three merchant vessels to provide assistance, a Defence release said.
All the ten-member crew onboard the fishing boat were engaged in damage control after flooding onboard. The boat crew was however reluctant to get on to the CG's vessel as they were apprehensive of losing their boat. Despite repeated requests by CG personnel, the fishermen were unwilling to abandon their boat and board the merchant vessel.
Hours later, a distress message was again received from the same boat and at that time, it was about 50 nautical miles away from Krishnapatnam. After the MRCC diverted three merchant vessels, one of them, the MV Singapore Bulker, rescued nine men including a person who was battling life due to "excess water in lungs". He died later. Coast Guard Ship C-440 from Chennai took onboard all the eight survivors from the Singapore Bulker and reached Chennai on Thursday evening. The body and the survivors were handed over to the state fisheries authorities here. The search for the missing fisherman is in progress.
