New Delhi, Apr 28 (UNI)In yet another successful search and Rescue operation at sea, the Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday said that it has located the missing Tamil Nadu fishing boat Mercedes in a massive four-day search operation launched on April 24 in the Arabian Sea at a distance of about 1,100 km from Goa.
The fishing boat had sailed for a ‘Deep Sea fishing’ on April 6 with 11 crew onboard West of Kerala for a 30 days voyage from Thengapattnam Fishing harbour in Tamil Nadu.
The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC) of the Indian Coast Guard at Mumbai activated the International Safety Net to alert merchant vessels transiting near the reported position to look out for the missing boat.
Simultaneously, ICGS Samudra Prahari on Concurrent Deployment was diverted for search. MRCC (Mumbai) coordinated with the merchant’s vessel Maersk Horsburgh to join the search operation along with fishing boats operating in the area.
After four days of continuous search amidst challenges of distance from the mainland and weather, the missing boat was located around 200 miles (around 370 kilometres) from Lakshadweep Islands.
ICG Dornier located and corroborated the presence of the fishing boat on Wednesday morning while MRCC (Mumbai) established communication with the fishing boat on a satellite phone held by the boat and ascertained the crew to be safe.
ICG ship on deployment off Lakshadweep was diverted to render logistic and medical assistance to the crew. The fishing boat is returning to its base port under the escort of the ICG ship and would reach around May 3, the ICG said.
