Chennai: The Indian Coast guard (ICG) has successfully rescued nine crew members, who were stranded in mid sea between Tuticorin and Maldives, after their Mechanised Sailing Vessel (MSV) developed a technical snag.
A defence release said the MSV ‘Annai Vailankanne Arockia Vennila’ on passage from Tuticorin to Maldives, with nine crew members on board, developed a technical snag about 170 nautical miles from Tuticorin and 230 nautical miles from Maldives and got stranded amid rough seas and requested for assistance through the Distressed Alert Transmitter (DAT).
The ICG’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Chennai received the distress message about flooding in the vessel.
The MRCC launched the National Search and Rescue Services and activated International Safety Net (ISN) for coordinating SAR operation.
Two merchant vessels. MV SKS Mosel (IMO – 9240433, MMSI –258792000, Flag – Norway) and MV MCP Salzburg (IMO – 9383481, MMSI – 212031000, Flag – Cyprus) were identified as potential SAR units and diverted to the datum.
MV MCP Salzburg reached datum and safely rescued all the nine crew members of the MSV and proceeded to its next port of call (NPC) Maldives, where the rescued crew would be disembarked.
The release said DAT was an Indigenous technology developed by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in consultation with Indian Coast Guard, the National Search and Rescue Authority.
DATs are carried by Indian fishing boats, MSVs, Coastal Vessels and other small vessels and the distress alert was monitored round the clock by MRCC Chennai at Coast Guard Regional Headquarters (East).