Naval officer Abhilash Tomy, stranded in Indian Ocean, rescued after 3 days
Abhilash Tomy suffered back injury on Friday after his yacht was hit by a vicious storm mid-way across south Indian Ocean.
Kochi: Indian Naval officer Abhilash Tomy, who suffered an injury while participating in the Golden Globe Race, has been rescued three days after his yacht was dismasted, a Navy spokesperson said on Monday.
The naval officer was rescued by the French Fishing Vessel Osiris.
Tomy rescued safely @nsitharaman @pmo @Australian_Navy @DefenceMinIndia @ggr2018official @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/G3z7mlLGu3
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) September 24, 2018
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Tomy is conscious and doing fine adding "INS Satpura will take him to Mauritius for medical attention".
A sense of relief to know that naval officer @abhilashtomy is rescued by the French fishing vessel. He's concious and doing okay. The vessel will shift him to a nearby island (I'lle Amsterdam) by evening. INS Satpura will take him to Mauritius for medical attention. @PIB_India
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) September 24, 2018
Earlier, bad weather was creating impediments in reaching Tomy whose vessel was "rolling excessively" in the South Indian Ocean.
Tomy's vessel was located by an Indian Navy aircraft on Sunday.
The naval officer also managed to get in touch with race organisers in France on Sunday through messages and had requested for a stretcher as he could not move on his own.
He was representing India in the Golden Globe Race 2018 (GGR) on an indigenously-built sailing vessel 'S V Thuraya'.
Tomy, who became the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe in 2013, is the only Indian participating in the race that involves a gruelling 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe.
Commander Tomy had suffered a back injury on Friday after his yacht was hit by a vicious storm with 14-metre-high waves and was dismasted mid-way across south Indian Ocean.