Mangaluru: Indian Coast Guard rescued all the 7 fishermen of a fishing boat Manjeshwari, which was reported to be in distress due to flooding, off Mangalore coast on June 7.
Manjeshwari, a 27-feet Gillnet boat, had sailed out of Old Port Mangalore at about 9 am on June 7 and was heading towards Malpe harbour. After covering a distance of about 3 Kms, while transiting off Tannir Bhavi, Mangalore, the boat started getting flooded due to heavy swell and high waves. Due to incessant flooding, the fishermen onboard boat raised an alarm for immediate rescue.
The information of flooding on the boat was relayed to the Indian Coast Guard Headquarters at Panambur, Mangalore by VTMS, New Mangalore Port Trust at 9:25 am. On receipt of the information, the Operations Team of Coast Guard, immediately swung into action and diverted Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Savitri Bai Phule from its patrol area to proceed with maximum available speed to render assistance to the distressed fishing boat.
Meanwhile, ICGS Rajdoot under the Command of Commandant Girish Chander, which was the Ready Duty Ship, was directed to sail immediately. The ship sailed out at 10:30 am and proceeded with the best possible speed. After arrival at the position at 10:49 am, ICGS Rajdoot assessed the situation and commenced retrieval of the fishermen from the distressed boat. All the 7 fishermen were rescued safely at 10:52 am.
ICGS Savitri Bai Phule maintained its position close by as standby to assist. ICGS Rajdoot entered New Mangalore Harbour at 11:15 am with the rescued crew.
The entire operation was coordinated amongst various stakeholders. The Coast Guard Operations were overseen by the Commander, Coast Guard Karnataka, and Deputy Inspector General S S Dasila. The district administration supported the operation. Dr. K G Jagadeesh, the District Collector deputed Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Director of Fisheries to Coast Guard Headquarters, Panambur for the coordination. New Mangalore Port Trust kept their Tug Standby to assist the rescue. All the stakeholders willingly took part as a well-knit team.
On completion of the rescue operation, DIG S S Dasila stated, “Time is very important factor in a rescue operation. Timely alarm by the fishermen for immediate rescue helped in their saving. I thank all the stakeholders for working as a coordinated team in saving precious lives at sea. I urge them to continue to support us in the future.”
