Kolkata: In a daring sea-to-air operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued 11 crew members of a cargo vessel that capsized in the Bay of Bengal early on Monday. Three more crew members are still missing. A search has been underway for them. All the 14 are Indians.
The Mumbai-registered ship, MV ITT Puma, which is 75-metre-long and was carrying general cargo, was sailing to Port Blair from Kolkata. It sank about 90 nautical miles south of Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas of West Bengal due to a rough sea.
The Maritime Search & Rescue Coordination Centre, Chennai initially received a distress signal in the late evening of Sunday. The ICG Regional Headquarters (North East) in Kolkata immediately mobilised two of its vessels, Sarang and Amogh, and a Dornier aircraft to the location.
All of them launched a coordinated search by 9.30 pm. The Dornier aircraft, equipped with advanced night-capable sensors detected adrift life rafts and sighted survival red flares from the distressed crew, the ICG said.
Guided by the Dornier aircraft, the two ICG ships reached the coordinates where two life rafts were found tied together, housing the survivors. Despite challenging weather conditions, the two ICG ships along with the Dornier aircraft later rescued the 11 crew members.
