NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, OCT 6
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Wednesday said it successfully coordinated the rescue of a mechanised sailing vessel’s crew of nine, with the ship bound for Maldives from Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu getting flooded during its voyage.
The vessel, ”Annai Vailankanne Arockia Vennila,” amid rough seas, reported a technical snag when it was about 170 Nautical Miles from Tuticorin and 230 NM off Maldives and requested assistance by transmitting a distress alert message through the Distressed Alert Transmitter-DAT.
The @IndiaCoastGuard’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Chennai has successfully coordinated the rescue of a boat with Nine (09) crew. The vessel reported technical snag through Distressed Alert Transmitter(DAT) when 170 NM off Tuticorin.@ajaykumar_ias @pibchennai pic.twitter.com/QlHepNI2KW
— Defence PRO Chennai (@Def_PRO_Chennai) October 6, 2021
The distress message on flooding through DAT was received by the Coast Guard Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), here at about 4 pm on October 5, a release from Defence PRO said.
MRCC launched the National Search and Rescue Services and activated the International Safety Net for coordinating search and rescue operation.
Out of the two merchant vessels identified for rescue, MV MCP Salzburg reached the location and safely rescued all the nine crew members early morning on Wednesday.
MV MCP Salzburg has proceeded to its next port of call, which is Maldives, and the rescued crew would be disembarking there.
The DAT is an indigenous technology developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation in consultation with Coast Guard and the National Search and Rescue Authority. DATs are carried by Indian fishing boats, mechanised sailing vessels, coastal vessels and other small vessels too, the release added.
