On receipt of message in MRCC Mumbai on Sunday of an Indian fishing boat being in distress due to fire onboard, Operation Centre swung into action and quickly found that two Offshore Patrol Vessels Indian Coast Guard ship Sachet and Sujeet were patrolling already in the area and diverted them for immediate attention. In addition MRCC Mumbai also asked nearby passing merchant ships for help. However, state-of-art ship ICGS Sujeet which was commissioned a month ago and ICGS Sachet after getting their orders proceeded to datum with maximum speed in just three hours of receiving the message to render the assistance.
Indian Coast Guard also sent its aircraft to quickly search the fishing boat. The boat was drifting in the area with 1 critically injured fisherman because of fire due to a cylinder blast. Remaining crew was also terrified with no food and water left onboard. Indian Coast Guard aircraft located the fishing boat and established communication on VHF with fishermen and ascertained causality status and provided moral support to fishermen.
In the meantime, ICGS Sachet and ICGS Sujeet reached and immediately evacuated the seriously injured men. Coast Guard ship provided initial medical attentions and first aid to injured man and headed to New Mangalore. Coast Guard Headquarters Karnataka without wasting much time liaised with New Mangalore Port Trust for speedy berthing assistance and government hospital Wenlok, to be standby to provide specialized medical care to the oncoming injured crew. The timely and swift action by Indian Coast Guard saved the precious lives of these 11 fishermen who were in distress due to cylinder blast in their boat.
