Mumbai: Three seriously injured foreign crew
members of a Bahamas flagged merchant ship were rescued today
by the Indian Navy after the vessel was caught in the
inclement weather off Mumbai coast.
The crew members, all Filipinos, of super tanker MV Jana,
had sent a distress call to the Indian Coast Guard, which in
turn, sought Navy's assistance in evacuation, a Defence
Ministry press release said here.
"The Navy rescued all the three crew members, who were
severely injured, within an hour, and brought them to Naval
Air Station INS Shikra," the statement said.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), at the
Coast Guard HQ, received a distress call from the merchant
ship at around 4 pm.
"The Coast Guard immediately informed the Navy for
casualty evacuation by helicopter to rescue the crew members,
since the ship was well out at sea and weather conditions were
not favourable for launching the Chetak helicopter," the
release said.
The ship, which was about 50 miles off Mumbai, was asked
to close coast while the INS Shikra, in South Mumbai,
activated a Sea King helicopter for the mission.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, June 17, 2010, 15:46