Ahmedabad: The Indian Coast Guard has rescued nine crew members of a merchant vessel in coordination with a Pakistani maritime agency after the vessel sank in the north Arabian Sea on Thursday, officials said.
'MSV Taj Dhare Haram', a dhow, sank on Thursday outside Indian waters and within Pakistan's `search and rescue region', they said. The search and rescue mission, carried out under challenging conditions, involved close collaboration between Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) of Mumbai and Karachi, Pakistan, said a release by the ICG.
A mechanized sailing vessel, the MSV Taj Dhare Haram departed from Mundra and was en route to Socotra port in Yemen when it sank due to the rough seas and onboard flooding, it said.
The distress call from the vessel was detected by an ICG Dornier aircraft that was conducting surveillance. It immediately alerted MRCC Mumbai and the ICG Regional Headquarters (North West) in Gandhinagar.
ICG ship 'Shoor', which was on forward area patrol, was promptly diverted to provide assistance, and the MRCC Pakistan was also contacted and asked to alert its mariners in the area, the release said. The ICGS Shoor proceeded at maximum speed to the probable location of the sinking vessel and conducted an extensive search operation.
The crew members, who had abandoned the dhow and taken refuge in a small life-raft, were located 311 km west of Porbandar, within Pakistan's search and rescue region, around 4:00 pm, the release said.
The vessel reportedly sank shortly after the rescue operation was completed. The rescued crew members were examined by the medical team onboard ICGS Shoor, and were said to be in good health. They were being brought to Porbandar, officials said.
