All 20 sailors rescued from sinking ship off Mumbai coast

, July 14: In a daring operation, the Indian Coast Guard braved stormy weather on Monday to

all 20 crewmen from a drifting cargo vessel in the Arabian Sea off Maharashtra's Raigad, an official said here.

At 11.20 a.m., the Coast Guard's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre here received a call that the ship M.V. Priyanka was tilting dangerously around three km off Revdanda Port in Raigad.

There were a total of 20 Indian crewmen on the vessel, which had left Mumbai port on Sunday with a cargo of 1,900 tonnes of iron pellets.

Early Monday, the vessel broke anchor near Revdanda and started drifting due to the inclement weather, rough sea, strong winds and heavy rain.

The Coast Guard immediately deployed a Chetak helicopter from Mumbai for the rescue mission, and the personnel managed to airlift 11 of the crew, while the others had abandoned the vessel on a life raft after it (the vessel) tilted precariously.

The crewmen were handed over to the local authorities.

The abandoned vessel is being closely monitored by all agencies concerned, the official said.

IANS