Coast Guard rescues nine fishermen from burning boat

Visakhapatnam: In a swift operation India CoastGuard ship Veera patrolling off Andhra coast rescued nine fishermen from a burning boat on Saturday.

A naval spokesman said ICG Ship Veera was diverted at full speed to assist fire fighting on the fishing boat 'Durga Bhavani' deep at sea about 65 nautical miles from Visakhapatnam.

Nine fishermen, with severe burn injuries, were rescued by the ICG ship. They were provided immediate first aid by medical team on ICGS Veera and brought to Visakhapatnam at maximum speed.

All survivors were shifted to a government hospital for further medical treatment.

Meanwhile, a release by Navy said ICGS Veera swung into action after receiving a radio message from nearby fishing boat about raging fire onboard Indian fishing boat (IFB) Durga Bhavani at location far away from Visakhapatnam harbour.

IFB Durga Bhavani, an Andhra registered boat, had sailed from Kakinada harbour with 9 crew on March 26. The boat had a fire incident resulting in explosion of gas cylinder onboad. All the fishermen jumped into water to escape but some suffered severe burn injuries in the process.

The fishing boat, damaged due to explosion, sank at the location within a few minutes. The information regarding fire and explosion was relayed to Coast Guard ship by an nearby boat, who proceeded to pickup the survivors. Sensing the urgency of situation, ICGS Veera proceeded at top speed, reaching at the location within a few hours to provide assistance to the survivors. All nine survivors were shifted to ICG ship where they were provided first aid by a medical team.

Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 6 in coordination with Joint Director, Fisheries Visakhapatnam promptly arranged ambulances along with medical teams to evacuate critically injured crew of IFB.

All the injured fishermen were shifted to King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam for further treatment. Due to swift response by ICG ship, the entire rescue mission was completed Coast Guard within a short span of six hours, the release stated

Indian Coast Guard is the lead agency for providing assistance to fishermen at sea as well as the national coordinating agency for Search and Rescue at Sea.