The Indian Navy has launched a search and rescue mission for a woman cadet who fell overboard from a Mexican Navy sailing ship about 560 nautical miles (800kms) west of Goa coast on Sunday. A long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft and two warships of the Indian Navy are now operating in the area to look for the woman cadet who was reportedly not wearing life saving jacket and gear when she fell.
Giving details of the mission, Navy officials said here on Monday, the sailing ship Cuauhtemoc was to reach Mumbai on June 21 and set sail for Singapore on June 26. The ship crew sought the Indian Navy’s help on Sunday evening after the incident reportedly took place at 2 pm. The last port of call of the ship was Port Said, Egypt.
Promptly responding to the distress call, a P-8 I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft of the Navy undertook sorties from 9:00 to 11:00 pm on Sunday and 6:30 to 10:30 am on Monday morning respectively in an effort to locate the missing cadet.
Apart from aerial mission, the Navy also deployed two warships INS Teg and INS Mysore for the search effort, they said. INS Teg, which was enroute to Mumbai from Port louis, Mauritius was diverted and is likely to arrive in the area where the cadet is likely to have fell in the sea, at 6:00 pm on Monday.
Additionally, INS Mysore (with two integral helicopters) sailed from Mumbai early Monday morning and is likely to reach the area at 10:00 pm on Tuesday, they said adding no success was reported yet on sighting or recovery of the cadet.