The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued 22 crew members of a sinking merchant vessel Global King-1 off Porbandar coast in Gujarat in a joint sea- air operation, official said. A Pakistani and a Sri Lankan were among the sailors who were brought back safe to Porbandar. A Dornier aircraft was involved in the search and rescue operations.
ICG received a distress alert about uncontrolled flooding on the merchant vessel Global King-1, which was reportedly 185 km off the Porbandar coast. Despite harsh weather conditions at the time, a Dornier aircraft was launched from ICG Air Station Porbandar to assess the situation and relay information to vessels in the vicinity. The aircraft after reaching the area, dropped a life raft for the crew members. ICG Ship Shoor which was already at sea, was also directed to immediately reach the area. The ICG ship braving rough seas proceeded to the area at maximum speed.
