Watch: Indian Coast Guard rescues 12 crew members from sunken ship in joint operation with Pakistan's agency

‘MSV Al Piranpir’ sank outside of Indian waters, within Pakistan's search and rescue region on Wednesday while returning to Porbandar from Iran

The Indian coast guard rescued 12 crew members of a merchant ship from the country which sank on Wednesday in the north Arabian sea during it's journey from Porbandar in Gujarat to Bandar Abbas port in Iran, reported news agency PTI.

12 crew members were rescued from a sunken ship in a joint operation between the Indian coast guard and Pakistan's maritime agency(@RT_India_News)

Since ‘MSV Al Piranpir’ sank outside of Indian waters, within Pakistan's search and rescue region, a joint operation was conducted by the Indian coast guard and Pakistan's maritime security agency PMSA.

“This humanitarian search and rescue mission saw a close collaboration between the Indian Coast Guard and PMSA, with both nations' maritime rescue coordination centres (MRCC) maintaining continuous communication throughout the operation,” a press release from the ICG said.

The merchant vessel, reportedly sank in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday due to rough conditions at sea and flooding, while it was on it's way to Porbandar with general cargo.

The Indian coast guard's maritime rescue coordination centre in Mumbai received a distress call and promptly alerted the ICG's north west regional headquarters in Gandhinagar.

The coast guard ship Sarthak was immediately sent to the location and Pakistan's marine rescue coordination centre was also contacted to alert mariners in the area. The Pakistan MMRC responded swiftly as well, the press release added.

After the ICG's Sarthak reached the location from where the distress call originated, they conducted an extensive search operation.

The 12 crew members were found taking refuge in a small dinghy after abandoning the sinking vessel and were rescued approximately 270 km west of Dwarka.

Along with Sarthak, a PMSA aircraft and merchant ship MV Cosco Glory also supported the search and rescue efforts.

After they were rescued, the surviving crew members were examined by a medical team onboard the ICG ship Sarthak and were reported to be in good health.

The press release from the coast guard added that the crew members were being transported back to Porbandar harbour.