Rough weather conditions, choppy waters and a dramatic rescue

Mumbai: In a dramatic operation, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard helicopters rescued 20 people on board a drifting merchant ship off Vasai coast in neighbouring Palghar district on Monday.

Around 11:00 pm on June 21, an Indian flagged container vessel “Jindal Kamakshi” sent out a distress alert.

The vessel was on passage from Mundra to Kochi with 20 crew members onboard. The merchant vessel was about 100 kilometres from the Mumbai harbour and reported that it was tilting to one side by 20 degrees.

Bad weather further aggravated the situation. The ship then closed the shore and anchored about 25 kilometres off Vasai Creek. The distress signal was received by the Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Mumbai).

Despite heavy winds, rain and poor visibility, the Indian Navy immediately launched a Seaking helicopter at 12:45 am on 22 June. The destroyer INS Mumbai was brought to immediate readiness and sailed out at 2:00 am.

By 6:15 am on June 22, the conditions worsened due to strong winds, heavy rains and dangerously high waves. It was now that the Master of the Merchant vessel requested for assistance in evacuating the crew.

Upon receiving a distress signal once again the Navy once again sent its Seaking helicopters, only this time it would be for a search and rescue operation. Indian Coast Guard being the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority (NMSARCA) launched Chetak helicopters from Daman and Mumbai.

^{The distressed ship Jindal Kamakshi (Photo: Deccan Chronicle)}
 

Here is a blow-by-blow account of the rescue operation:
 
“We got a distress message at around 5: 30 in the morning, saying that there was a problem with the ship” said Commandar K.V.K Gosavi the first pilot of the Coast Guard Chetak helicopter.
The ship was 30-35 nautical miles from Mumbai, and about 40 – 45 nautical miles from INS Shikra the Naval air squadron in Mumbai.

“We were told to be on stand by as the weather was not very conducive for Chetak operations. So the Naval Seaking helicopter, was called on to carry out the rescue,” added Commandar Gosavi.
Once the weather cleared up a little, the Coast Guard Chetak helicopter also joined the operation.

Upon their arrival at the spot the weather was not too bad, however the visibility was low, the sea was rough and winds very strong.

After getting all clearances from the Air Traffic Control, they had to look out for the two Naval Seakings that were out for the rescue and another CG Chetak, which had been dispatched from Daman.

“Upon reaching the location, we found the ship was tilted about 30 degrees to one side. When we arrived the Naval Seaking informed us that they had already rescued 19 of the 20 people onboard,” said Commandar Gosavi.

^{The distressed ship Jindal Kamakshi (Photo: Deccan Chronicle)}

The only two remaining people were the Naval diver who helped the survivors to get aboard the Seaking and the Captain of the ship.

At the juncture, the Coast Guard Chetak came to the rescue and winched up the Captain of the ship, Mahender Pal Prabhakar.

^{Assistant Commandant Amit Kadian, Commandar K V K Gosavi (Center) and Captain of the merchant vessel Mahendar Pal Prabhakar (behind) (Photo: Deccan Chronicle)}

A Naval Seaking helicopter which was in line after the Chetak picked up the diver.

Commandar Gosavi told Deccan Chronicle that they chose to rescue the Captain of the ship first as he was a civilian and did not how know to wear a strop to be winched up to the aircraft.

While co-pilot Amit Kadian was flying the Chetak helicopter, Commandar Gosavi was looking out of the aircraft for better visibility and navigating accordingly.

When they finally got a clearer visual of the ship’s Captain and the diver, they were on the bridge of the ship near the mast which made the rescue operation a challenge.

Commandar Gosavi added that it was a very tricky operation as the rescue had to be carried out about 150 feet above the choppy waters.

The weather too was not in their favour as the strong winds made the strop sway towards one direction and not right over the ship.

“The strong winds made it difficult for a steady hover. The tilted ship proved to be one more obstacle in the way of the rescue,” said Commandar Gosavi.

Commandar Gosavi lauded his team, co-pilot Amit Kadian and Air Crew Diver Pradhan Navik Pardeep Kumar for their commendable rescue operation.

Commandar Gosavi has served the Indian defence services for 25 years and is a decorated pilot with a Navsena Medal and a Shaurya Chakra to his name. Assistant Commandant Amit Kadian from New Delhi (25) has been with the Indian Coast Guard for six years. This was his third search and rescue operation. Pradhan Navik Pardeep Kumar from Haryana (30) has been a trained Air Crew Diver for the last five and a half years. This was his fifth search and rescue operation.

^{Assistant Comandant Amit Kadian (Left), Commandar K V K Gosavi (Centre) and Pradhan Navik Pardeep Kumar (Right) (Photo: Deccan Chronicle)}

Merchant Vessel Jindal Kamakshi is currently at anchor and abandoned. All 20 onboard the ship were rescued and survived due to the excellent coordination between the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

^{Seaking crew with the survivors from the merchant vessel (Photo: Deccan Chronicle)}