Braving inclement weather conditions, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel rescued seven fishermen from a sinking boat, off the Ratnagiri coast on Monday evening. “All fishermen are safe. The damaged fishing boat is being repaired in Ratnagiri Harbour,” an ICG spokesperson said on Tuesday.
At about 12 noon on Monday, fishing FB Durga Ambika raised a distress alert on VHF Channel that there was considerable ingress of water in a fishing boat FB Mahez stranded 26 nautical miles north-west of Ratnagiri harbour. The sinking boat had seven fishermen on board. The Coast Guard Dornier aircraft on surveillance monitored the distress and relayed it to the ICG, Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai.
Coast Guard Regional Headquarters West at Mumbai directed for sailing, Interceptor Boat, ICGS C 402 with maximum speed from Angre Port, Jaigarh for SAR.
“Braving the rough weather conditions, Indian Coast Guard Ship C 402 rescued seven fishermen from distress fishing boat Mahez (Malpe Registered) at 1600 hrs today,” an ICG spokesperson said.
Subsequently, the Coast Guard Ship de-flooded the distress boat using her submersible pump and safely towed it to Ratnagiri.