Coast Guard airlifts all 14 crew members of cargo ship adrift off Alibag coast

Indian Coast Guard airlifts 14 crew members of stranded vessel off Alibag coast amid severe weather conditions. All safely evacuated to Alibag beach.

Mumbai: In a daring operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Friday airlifted 14 crew members of JSW Raigad, a bulk carrier vessel that drifted off the Alibag coast in Raigad district after its engine stopped functioning amid severe weather conditions.

HT Image

The aid was organised by chief secretary of the state Sujata Saunik who coordinated with the rescue team on Thursday night. A chopper of the Coast Guard was engaged in the operation, which started around 9 am, and all the 14 crew members of the tugboat were safely evacuated.

The Coast Guard chopper picked up the crew from the tugboat and safely dropped them at Alibag beach. “In the early hours of July 26, despite adverse weather conditions which limited air operations, ICG launched a daring operation to evacuate the crew from the stranded vessel. All 14 crew were successfully evacuated from the vessel by CG helicopter and safely disembarked at Alibag beach,” the Coast Guard said.

At 1:27 pm on July 25, the Indian Coast Guard ship Sankalp received a distress call from JSW Raigad, a 121.6 m long bulk carrier with 14 Indian crew anchored off Alibag.

The vessel reported anchor dragging and loss of control. This was further worsened by flooding in the engine room. Due to the turbulent sea, the vessel ran aground on reefs about one nautical mile from Alibag. Raigad collector Kishan Jawale said the rescue operation could not have been done earlier as there was high tide. Some of the crew members said they had food and water onboard.

Late on Thursday, Saunik reached out to the Coast Guard and organised help. Early on Friday, a Chetak helicopter was sent from Juhu airport despite adverse conditions limiting air operations. The crew was successfully evacuated from the vessel by a CG helicopter and safely disembarked at Alibag Beach. The Coast Guard station in Murud was coordinating with the Raigad administration.

“Due to waves and high wind, our ship dashed on rocks. We were told to assemble on the bridge and were rescued after over 12 hours,’’ said a crew member and added that the engine shut down.