Thaindian News

Mumbai, Oct 19 (IANS) The Indian Coast Guard yesterday rescued two Australian sailors stranded on a sailing yacht, around 158 nautical miles off Mumbai, while on a voyage from Dubai to Male, an official said here Wednesday.

Following a distress call received Monday afternoon by the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRC) Mumbai, the ICG deployed a Dornier aircraft from Daman to search for the adrift yacht in the Arabian Sea and also activated the international safety net.

After an extensive daylong search, the yacht named Dish Dash, bearing an Australian flag, was finally spotted Monday evening around 5.15 p.m.

However, the ICG could not establish communication with it as there was no power on board and the yacht had been adrift for the past four days.

The Dornier aircraft diverted merchant vessel MV Maersk Claudia passing in the vicinity to render assistance to the stranded sailors.

It found that the vessel had broken its mast and also suffered a power failure but both the crew members were healthy and safe.

The MRCC diverted its ship, ICGS Veera, which reached there late Monday night and rescued the two sailors in darkness later.

The defective yacht could not be repaired for want of special spare parts and ICGS Veera is towing it to Mumbai.

The two rescued sailors were provided with necessary food and medicines on board and are expected to reach Mumbai late Wednesday night, the official said.

Till date this year, the ICG has saved a total of 227 lives on the western coast of India in sync with its motto, ‘We Protect.’