Turbulent weather: Indian Coast Guard rescues Tamil Nadu fishing boat

Mangaluru: Indian Coast Guard Ship Amartya towed a Tamil Nadu registered Fishing Boat St. Joseph, Reg no. IND-TN-15-MM-5844, which was stranded off New Mangalore due to engine failure to New Mangalore Port (NMPT) on June 9^th.

The boat with a crew of 10 fishermen had sailed from Kochi and on June 8^th 2018, it lost its machinery and navigation control due to the prevalent strong monsoon and extremely rough sea conditions with sea state being 4-5. The boat was stranded at high seas with imminent danger to fisherman’s lives onboard surrounded by wind speeds of up to 45 knots and swell height of more than 4 metres along with incessant rains.

On 08 June 2018, IGCS Amartya received a distress message and started coordinating rescue efforts with the boat in the evening. Throughout the night, several rescue attempts were attempted but turned out to be unsuccessful due to the severe weather and sea condition.

On the morning of June 9^th, IGCS Amartya was successful in rescuing all fishermen and the boat by successfully towed to NMPT at 13:15hrs adhering to all the safety precautions.

“Braving heavy seas, ICGS Amartya rescued precious lives on the boat and towed it safely to NMPT. A task may be difficult, but impossible is nothing”, said Coast Guard District Commander (Karnataka) Dy Inspector General SS Dasila.