All efforts are on to locate and rescue the 10 Indian sailors who went missing after their cargo ship sank in Pacific off Philippines last week. An Indian Navy P-8 I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft carried out sorties over the area where the ship sank but did not meet with any success. Japan has also deployed a helicopter and two patrol vessels for the search and rescue mission.
Giving details of the rescue mission, navy officials said here on Tuesday the reconnaissance aircraft, which reached Philippines, on Monday conducted sorties that day and on Tuesday from ten am to six pm. The focus of the search was 380 nautical miles(650 km) north east of Manila in north-west Pacific. The ill-fated ship MV Emerald Star weighing more than 33,000 tons with 26 Indians crew members on board sank on Friday last after a typhoon struck. Sixteen Indian sailors were rescued by other ships in the vicinity.
Officials said the P-8 I on Monday undertook sortie from 1400 hours to 2000 hours and covered an area of 24,000 square nautical miles around the last known position of the merchant ship. The aircraft sighted an inverted lifeboat in the area and the information was relayed to the Japanese coast guard ship to investigate. The Japanese ship reported that it had already searched the boat and did not find any survivors or bodies. No debris was also sighted, they said.
The Indian missions in Japan, Philippines and China were co-ordinating the rescue mission involving the Indian Navy aircraft, officials said. Five Indian crew members rescued earlier were now in Irene, Philippines and country's mission is bringing them to Manila before they are sent back to India.
In a series of tweets, Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said the P-8I aircraft had reached Manila and joined the search and rescue operations for the missing sailors. “Indian Embassy in Japan has informed me that a helicopter and two patrol vessels of Japan Coast Guard are engaged in search/rescue operations,” Swaraj posted. External affairs ministry from the Indian Guangzhou Consulate visited the injured crew in a Xiamen hospital, it was learnt.