In a bold sea-to-air maneuver, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) has effectively saved 11 crew members from a cargo vessel that overturned in the Bay of Bengal early Monday morning. Regrettably, three crew members are still unaccounted for, prompting an ongoing search mission. The entire crew of 14 individuals were of Indian nationality.
The incident revolved around the Mumbai-registered ship, MV ITT Puma, a 75-meter-long vessel transporting general cargo from Kolkata to Port Blair. Rough sea conditions led to the vessel sinking around 90 nautical miles south of Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal.
Late Sunday evening, the Maritime Search & Rescue Coordination Centre in Chennai received a distress call from the ship. Subsequently, the ICG’s regional headquarters (North East) in Kolkata swiftly dispatched two vessels, Sarang and Amogh, alongside a Dornier aircraft to the scene. By 9:30 pm, a coordinated search operation was initiated by the Indian Coast Guard.
Equipped with cutting-edge night-capable sensors, the Dornier aircraft detected drifting life rafts and sighted red flares signaling distress from the crew in need. Following the aircraft’s guidance, the two ICG ships reached the location where they found two life rafts tethered together, sheltering the survivors.
Despite adverse weather conditions, both the Indian Coast Guard ships and the Dornier aircraft successfully rescued the 11 crew members. Efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining three missing crew members.
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