Kolkata: In a daring sea-to-air operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) successfully rescued 11 crew members from a cargo vessel that capsized in the Bay of Bengal early Monday morning. However, three crew members remain missing, and a search operation is currently underway to locate them. All 14 crew members on board were Indian nationals.
The incident involved the Mumbai-registered ship, MV ITT Puma, a 75-metre-long vessel carrying general cargo, which was en route from Kolkata to Port Blair. The vessel sank approximately 90 nautical miles south of Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, due to rough sea conditions.
The Maritime Search & Rescue Coordination Centre in Chennai received a distress signal from the ship late Sunday evening. In response, the ICG's regional headquarters (North East) in Kolkata quickly dispatched two vessels, Sarang and Amogh, along with a Dornier aircraft, to the location.
By 9.30 pm, the ICG had launched a coordinated search operation. The Dornier aircraft, equipped with advanced night-capable sensors, detected adrift life rafts and observed survival red flares from the distressed crew, according to the ICG.
Guided by the aircraft, the two ICG ships reached the location where they found two life rafts tied together, containing the survivors. Despite challenging weather conditions, the ICG ships and the Dornier aircraft successfully rescued the 11 crew members. The search continues for the three missing crew members.
