The Coast Guard on Monday rescued six fishermen who were stranded after their tug capsized in the Arabian Sea. A search is still under way for a seventh member of the crew.
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According to Coast Guard officers, the distress call was received from the tug, Revti , in the early hours of Monday. Indian Coast Guard ship Amartya , a fast patrol vessel that was on a surveillance mission, was diverted to respond to the call.
“The ship reached the tug’s location, which was around 12.5 nautical miles from the shore, around 10.54 a.m. By the time it reached the spot, the tug was already sinking and a rescue operation was started immediately,” a Coast Guard spokesperson said.
The six crew members were brought aboard and subsequently taken to Yellowgate police station, which has jurisdiction over the coastal area, where they were handed over to the police.
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The rescued fishermen have been identified as Rashid Sorathia (38), Tonoy Chalak (22), Ramesh Keni (55), Dilip Yadav (29), Shanu Kumar (19), and Saleem Siddiqui (40), while the missing fisherman has been identified as Abdul Azeez (53).
An officer at Yellowgate police station said, “All we know so far is that the crew was on its way from Mumbai to Tarapur on a fishing expedition when the mishap occurred. The fishermen are not in a condition to give proper statements as of now. We will be making detailed inquiries with them on Tuesday so that we can pinpoint exactly what led to the accident.”