Fifteen fishermen were rescued by fellow fishermen, after two fishing boats 70 nautical miles off north of Mumbai in the early hours of Monday.
“At about midnight of 21/22 August 2016, two fishing boats Himsagar and Krishna Sagar sank at sea 7 nautical miles from Umargam and 70 nautical north of Mumbai,” a defence spokesperson said.
The fishermen had set out in two fishing boats from Zai and Gholwad villages in neighbouring Palghar district on Sunday evening. The mishap took place shortly before midnight.
Before long, a Seaking 42B, all weather helicopter has been launched to search for survivors. “One each Indian Naval Ship and Indian Coast Guard Ship were diverted to the area. All 15 fishermen were picked up by other fishermen in the area and have landed ashore,” the defence spokesperson said.
The naval and Coast Guard Ships, which had rushed to the mishap area soon after they received SOS message from fishermen in the sinking boats, returned to their respective tasks after they came to know some fishermen had rescued 15 fishermen from the two boats that sank.