SOURCE: UNI
The Navy and the Coast Guard on Friday rescued three sailors from on board a merchant vessel, MV Heilan Star, in the Arabian Sea.
Among those rescued were an Indonesian and two Chinese nationals, said officials. The fourth crew member had already succumbed to injuries by the time a Navy helicopter reached the fire-hit vessel, which was stuck some 425 km west of Goa.
After receiving a distress call, the Indian Coast Guard’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre at Mumbai informed the Navy that four crew members of MV Heilan Star had sustained severe burn injuries in the fire incident and required immediate advanced medical care.
The Navy quickly swung into action and diverted two ships, the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and INS Deepak (a fleet tanker), from their current deployment to extend help.
A Sea King helicopter flew from INS Vikrant to carry out a challenging winching operation to evacuate three injured crew members — two of them were Chinese and one was an Indonesian national — from the MV Heilan Star merchant vessel.