Watch: Indian Coast Guard undertakes rescue operation in Arabian Sea in Gujarat

New Delhi, July 06: The Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday launched a rescue operation near the Porbandar coast after it received a distress alert from the crew of a vessel.

"@IndiaCoastGuard MRCC, #Mumbai is coordinating a flooding distress alert from MT Global king, 93 miles west of #Porbandar where 22 crew members abandoned the ship. #ICG assets, merchant ships and other agencies have been diverted for rescue. @DefenceMinIndia @shipmin_india @MEAIndia," the Coast Guard said on Twitter.

The assets deployed by the Coast Guard for the rescue operation includes its newly-commissioned ALH Dhruv choppers.

The operation is being carried out the operation in the Arabian Sea near Porbandar coast in the western state. The ship had left from Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and was on its way to Karwar, Karnataka, when there was a sudden and uncontrolled flooding onboard which prompted the crew to initiate a distress call, news agency ANI reported.

It also said that there were 22 crew members onboard the vessel, which was transporting 6,000 tonnes of Bitumen, a semi-solid form of petroleum which is also known as Asphalt.