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Indian Coast Guard Rescues Crew from Tanker Sinking in Arabian Sea

Indian Coast Guard rescues crew from sinking tanker
Picture from Indian reconnaissance airplane of the sinking Global King 1 (ICG)

Published Jul 6, 2022 12:12 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Indian Coast Guard rescued 22 crewmembers from a product tanker in the Arabian Sea. They were all safely transferred to Porbandar in northwest India in what the Coast Guard is calling a “swift rescue operation.”

The product tanker Global King 1 (6,694 dwt) departed the UAE in late June transporting 6,000 tons of bitumen, a by-product of oil production. The tanker, which was built in 2007, was due to arrive in the Indian port of Karwar on July 7. Registered in Panama, the tanker was 386 feet long, with a crew consisting of 20 Indians and one each from Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"At about 0820 hrs, ICG received distress alert regarding uncontrolled flooding onboard merchant vessel Global King 1,” said a statement from the Coast Guard. “The ship was reportedly 95 nautical miles off Porbandar coast. ICG immediately responded and alerted all stakeholders."

 

 

It was unclear what caused the flooding aboard the vessel, but when an airplane from the Indian Coast Guard arrived on the scene, they reported that the vessel was listing while the crew told them they were unable to control the flooding. The reconnaissance airplane dropped an inflatable life raft and the crew decided to abandon ship.

A Coast Guard patrol boat operating in the region also made its way to the scene. It was assisted by one or more helicopters including a newly commissioned domestically-built ALH Dhruv chopper.

A brief video of the rescue released by the Coast Guard shows one of the helicopters above the lift raft which drifted a significant distance from the stricken vessel. The crew was reportedly taken to shore on the helicopters and aboard the patrol boat.