Cyclone Tauktae: Indian Navy rescues four crew members of tug vessel stranded off Udipi coast

Four crew members of Coromondel Supporter XI rescued by Indian navy (Image: Indian Navy)

On May 17, the Indian Navy launched a rescue mission to save the nine crew members of Tug Coromondel Supporter XI. They were stuck between the rocks adrift North West of New Mangalore, Karnataka. There were attempts to rescue them by boat but they were not successful. After that, on Monday morning Indian Navy’s helo was dispatched to rescue to crew.

https://twitter.com/indiannavy/status/1394204233705025543?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

So far, four members of the team have been rescued safely. As per the tweet by Navy’s Spokesperson, rough seas had resulted in flooding of the vessel’s machinery compartments rendering it without propulsion and power supply. The crew was left with no support and rescue options. Another helicopter from Naval air station in Goa has been deployed to assist in the search of missing crew members of Indian flagged Tug Alliance.

Crew members had sent a request for rescue

On May 16, the crew members of Tug Coromondel Supporter XI had sent SOS message to rescue them. The videos showed they were stuck on the dormant ship between the rocks off the Karnataka coastline. The Indian Navy has been actively rescuing crew members from ships that have been stuck at sea due to cyclone Tauktae.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia