Gujarat: Coast Guard rescues 12 crew members of sinking cargo ship

Twelve crew members of a cargo vessel sinking in the Arabian Sea off the Gujarat coast have been rescued by the Coast Guard, officials said on Sunday.

Around 9 pm on Saturday, the Coast Guard received information that there was flooding onboard the vessel 'MSV Krishna Sudama' around 10 nautical miles off the Okha coast.

The vessel had on Saturday started sailing from Mundra in Gujarat for Djibouti, carrying 905 tonne rice and sugar to the African nation, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

"Search and rescue was immediately commenced wherein Coast Guard Ship C-411 sailed from Okha, C-161 was diverted from off Mundra, and MV Southern Robin in the vicinity of the area was diverted to render assistance," it said.

The Coast Guard ship C-411 arrived near the vessel in distress. It undertook extensive search in the area and located the craft carrying 12 crew members who had abandoned the vessel as it was sinking due to flooding, it said.

The Coast Guard ship rescued all the 12 crew under challenging circumstances owing to night hours, floating dangerous debris and unfavourable weather conditions, it said.

"They were brought to Okha and are safe," the statement said.

The area where the incident took place is being monitored by the Coast Guard Ship C-161 so that it can combat any probable oil pollution incident that might result from leakage of fuel from the sunken dhow, it added.