Kochi coast: ICGS Vikram rescues fishing boat in distress

Mangaluru: New Mangalore based Indian Coast Guard Ship Vikram helped rescue fishermen on board fishing boat St Anthony that was facing distress due to engine failure off 92 nautical miles from Kochi on Wednesday.

On May 30th, at 10:30am the message was received from the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre from Mumbai that a boat with 9 crew onboard was in distress. The message was relayed to to ICGS Vikram that was out on patrol, and diverted to the area.

At 5:15pm in the evening, the ship reached the position of the distressed fishing boat and its technical team along with tools and medical aid, embarked on board the fishing boat to rectify the defect.“Since the engine defect could not be rectified at sea, the ship towed the distressed fishing boat to Kochi,” informed DIG S.S. Dasila, commander, Coast Guard Karnataka.

“After towing the boat for around 57 nautical miles, the Coast Guard handed over the boat to another fishing boat, ‘Jasmine’, at 7.45am on May 31, some 35 nautical miles from Kochi, for onward passage to Kochi port. Thereafter, the ship resumed patrol in the designated area,” Dasila added.