Coast Guard rescues Chinese sailor and fishermen off Karnataka coast

Coast Guard rescues Chinese sailor and fishermen off Karnataka coast

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 1, 2015 :  As per news reports, MV APL Detroit, a Singapore registered 328 metres long container carrier was on passage from Port Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia to Singapore. On Aug 30, the captain of APL Detroit called Indian Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai from sea at 4pm seeking Coast Guard assistance for medical evacuation of chief engineer Jhejiang Li who suffered serious eye injury. The ship was about 50 nautical miles off New Mangalore and was steered towards the Port.

On receipt of the information from MRCC, Mumbai, Coast Guard swung into action and kept its units standby for medical evacuation. Coast Guard Karnataka close to area of operation coordinated with all concerned agencies, namely, authorised shipping agent of the vessel - M/s Marine Links, Mangaluru, City Police, Customs, Immigration and port authorities for safe evacuation and hospitalization.  

Coast Guard district headquarters Karnataka coordinated successful evacuation of  38-year-old injured Chinese sailor Jhejiang Li, chief engineer from merchant vessel MV APL Detroit. The injured crew was evacuated with the assistance of New Mangalore Port Trust tug and shifted to Yenepoya Hospital in the city at 11.55pm under the supervision of Dr Rajesh Nayak. The condition of the sick engineer is stable. 

Local fishermen rescued :   Coast Guard personnel also located distressed fishing boat Sri Master on Aug 31, off Karwar. Sri Master (Registration # KA 02 MM 3662), which had ventured for fishing on August 26 from Malpe with 10 crew developed engine problem on August 28. On receipt of information, Indian Coast Guard Ship Amartya and Interceptor Boat C-420 were tasked from NMP and Karwar respectively in different areas to search the distressed boat and render assistance.

ICGS Amartya located the boat off Honnavar at a distance of 17 nautical miles in the wee hours of Aug 31.   A technical team from ICGS Amartya boarded the boat and found crankshaft broken. All the crew were in a healthy condition and had sufficient ration on board. Coast Guard contacted owner of the boat which has been escorted to Bhatkal. Safety of every life, whether on a merchant vessel or a fishing boat, is paramount noted the Karnataka Coast Guard.