Commander Abhilash Tomy who was rescued from his sailing vessel ‘Thuriya’ on September 24 after having suffered a serious injury during the Golden Globe race, was brought to Visakhapatnam on board the INS Satpura on Saturday.
He was shifted to the naval hospital in Visakhapatnam INHS Kalyani for further medical observation and treatment.
Cdr. Tomy was representing India in the historic around the world race, conducted without modern navigation aids.
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On September 21, his sailing vessel ‘Thuriya’ was dismasted when it was caught in a violent storm in the South Indian Ocean.
According to a naval officer who is also into yachting and sailing and isa a friend of Cdr. Tomy, the southern Indian Ocean is rough in general and getting caught in a storm is the worst nightmare for a sailor.
“Tomy is a tough guy and a good sailor; he exhibited true grit by braving the ‘wall of waves’ despite suffering a grave injury. He depicted true naval courage,” said the officer.
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Another officer who has served with Cdr Tomy, said, “Tomy is a very level-headed guy and that mindset worked in good stead for him during the crisis. We are proud of him for being the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe solo on INS Mhadei , without stops and being awarded the Kirti Chakra. He is a sportsman and a sailor by heart. we are sure that he will recover fast and go back to sailing that he likes the most.”
Cdr Abhilash Tomy suffered a severe back injury and dropped out of the race. The Australian Rescue Coordination Centre at Canberra coordinated the rescue mission in conjunction with many agencies including the Australian Defence Department and the Indian Navy. The entire search operation was based on text messages transmitted by Cdr Tomy from his broken cell phone and it was like searching a ‘needle in a haystack’, said another officer.
The Indian Navy launched ‘Operation Raksham’ to rescue the injured officer by immediately deploying the Long Range Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft P8I in the area staging through Mauritius for providing close support and monitoring the rescue operations and diverted IN Ships Satpura and Jyoti to undertake Search and Rescue Operations.
On September 24, French Fishing Vessel Osiris reached close to ‘Thuriya’ and carried out a successful rescue operation and later shifted Cdr Tomy to Ile Amsterdam for shelter.
INS Satpura after fuelling from INS Jyoti arrived off the Ile Amsterdam and safely evacuated Cdr Tomy using the ship’s helicopter on September 28.
He was thereafter provided the requisite medical treatment onboard during the passage to Visakhapatnam.
As soon as the INS Satpura arrived at the ENC base in Visakhapatnam, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh FOC-in-C of ENC met Cdr Tomy, and enquired about his health and the rescue operation. Vice-Admiral Singh also met Capt Alok Ananda, Commanding Officer of INS Satpura who lost his father while the ship was on deployment and diverted for the search and rescue operation. He lauded the officer for holding the naval tradition of ‘duty above self’.