Coast Guard rescues Chinese national suffering from stroke off Mumbai coast

According to Coast Guard officials, the Indian Maritime Search and Rescue Region (ISRR) had received a request from a Panama-flagged vessel MT Hua Wei 8 regarding a medical emergency onboard

Mumbai: The Indian Coast Guard on Saturday rescued a 49-year-old Chinese national suffering from a stroke combined with hemiplegia from a Panama-flagged ship off the Mumbai coast, the maritime security agency said. Hemiplegia is one-sided muscle paralysis or weakness. It is usually a symptom of a brain-related issue or condition.

Coast Guard rescues Chinese national suffering from stroke off Mumbai coast

The patient along with one attendant was handed over to the vessel’s agent in the city in stable condition for further medical management, it said.

According to Coast Guard officials, the Indian Maritime Search and Rescue Region (ISRR) had received a request from a Panama-flagged vessel MT Hua Wei 8 regarding a medical emergency onboard.

The vessel was headed to Port Qasim in Karachi, Pakistan from New Mangalore and was planning to alter course to head towards Mumbai for a medical emergency.

In the early hours of Saturday, the master of the ship and the local agent of the vessel’s company requested the Indian Coast Guard to evacuate the patient. Considering the critical status of his health, Indian Coast Guard Ship C-439 was deployed at 7am for medical evacuation of the patient. Amidst the extremely low visibility conditions, C-439 successfully evacuated the patient.

The patient was subsequently taken to the local agent at Mumbai Port berth for further medical management ashore at 11.30am.

“Braving the extremely low visibility conditions @IndiaCoastGuard Ship C-439 undertook Medical Evacuation #MEDEVAC of 49 yr old #Chinese crew, suffering from stroke combined with Hemiplegia, from Panama flagged MT Hua Wei 8 off #Mumbai Coast today,” the Coast Guard said in a post on X.

Earlier on August 17, the Coast Guard had garnered praise from China for successfully carrying out a challenging medical evacuation of a 24-year-old Chinese national from a research vessel around 200 km in Arabian sea off Mumbai on the late night of August 17. The vessel was on its way to the UAE from China’s Hainan province.