Coast Guard rescues three seamen

MUMBAI, APRIL 8: Three seamen who were severely burnt after a ship caught fire were rescued by Coast Guard on Saturday morning. Faisal Mec...

MUMBAI, APRIL 8: Three seamen who were severely burnt after a ship caught fire were rescued by Coast Guard on Saturday morning. Faisal Mecca, which was bound for Sharjah carrying a cargo of 90 tonnes onion, caught fire some where off the due coast.

According to Coast Guard spokesperson, Coast Guard ship Amrit Kaur which was on routine patrol was diverted to the area and after 2 hours of fire fighting, three crew members were rescued. Their names have been given as Salee Mamed Usman Sangar (16), Junus Haroom Sangar (20) and Abukarim Haroom (18), all Gulf nationals.

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They were evacuated from the ship which berthed at Naval dockyard on saturday morning and rushed to JJ Hospital and admitted to burns ward, added the spokesperson. In the meantime, Coast Guard ships Vigrah had been diverted to salvage the vessel from sinking. The spokesperson further added that Amrit Kaur had to return almost at 20 nautical miles per hour speed to save the life of the seamen. The ship carried a compliment of 16 crew members with Ismail Bhai as the captain of the vessel.

It is understood that the fire broke out after the engine developed technical snags. A mechanic who attended the vessel said that sparks could be seen emanating from the battery during repair works which could have led to fire. The condition of the burnt seamen were reported to be serious. Faisal Mecca had sailed off from Mumbai on April 5, enroute from Sikka in the Gulf of Kutch.