Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship Veera on patrol off Andhra coast saved all the nine fishermen who had suffered severe burns after their boat caught fire and sunk at sea on April 5, within a span of six hours, according to a release from the Eastern Naval Command here on Saturday.
ICG is the lead agency for providing assistance to fishermen at sea as well as the national coordinating agency for Search and Rescue at sea.
The ship crew received a radio message from a nearby fishing boat about fire raging onboard Indian fishing boat (IFB) Durga Bhavani at around 65 nautical miles from Visakhapatnam harbour.
IFB Durga Bhavani, an Andhra registered boat, had sailed from Kakinada harbour with nine crew on March 26.
On April 5, the boat caught fire due to explosion of an LPG cylinder on board. The fishermen jumped into the water to escape but some suffered severe burns in the process. The fishing boat, damaged due to explosion, sank at the location within a few minutes. The information regarding fire and explosion was relayed to the Coast Guard ship. Sensing the urgency of the situation, ICGS Veera proceeded at top speed, reaching the location within a few hours to provide assistance to the survivors. All nine survivors were shifted to ICG ship where they were provided first-aid by a medical team.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 6 in coordination with Joint Director of Fisheries Visakhapatnam arranged ambulances along with medical teams to evacuate critically injured to King George Hospital here for further treatment.