The Indian Coast Guard on Friday (April 5) said that it has rescued a Sri Lankan national suffering from a critical heart condition onboard a drifting vessel, nearly 100 nautical miles from Tamil Nadu’s Chennai and airlifted him to the city for treatment. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) of ICG had earlier received a distress alert from MRCC Colombo about Sri Lankan Fishing Vessel (SLFV) 'Kalpeni' that was suspected to be adrift at sea due to a snag in the engine.
According to the MRCC Colombo, the boat had set sail from ‘Codbay’ fishing harbour in Sri Lanka on March 22 with six crew members.
"The boat had ceased all communication from March 28. MRCC Colombo intimated that the boat was likely to have entered Indian waters due to prevailing wind and drift patterns," a Defence release said.
It was sighted by an ICG ship on Tuesday about 40 Nautical Miles from Puducherry harbour.
An ICG technical crew boarded the Sri Lankan boat and tried to repair the engine, however, the efforts were hampered by the lack of spares.
While the Coast Guard ensured supply of essentials such as food and water on the boat, Sri Lankan authorities were intimated about the position of the vessel and were requested to arrange for a tow to take it back to base port, it said.
The boat was kept under watch and the health of the crew was routinely monitored by the Indian Coast Guard. On Friday, information was received that one of the members had developed shortness of breath and was "suspected to have a life threatening heart condition," it said.
"By this time, the boat had drifted to about 60 Nautical miles from Chennai. The Indian Coast Guard immediately launched its ship ICGS Rani Abakka towards the boat and the patient was evacuated within a few hours. Once on the ICG ship, the patient was given basic medical treatment. At the same time, an Advanced Light helicopter (ALH) was launched from Squadron based at Chennai," it said.
The chopper successfully airlifted him from ICG ship deep at sea and he was brought to Coast Guard air station in Chennai. After an initial medical examination, the 44 year-old man was taken for hospitalisation in the city, the release added.
The Indian Coast Guard continues to be in close communication with the drifting Sri Lankan boat as well as Sri Lankan authorities so that it can be towed back to base port at the earliest. ICG has been undertaking many such successful medical evacuations from the deep sea in the recent past, both on the east as well as on the west coast of India, the release added.
(With PTI inputs)
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