Nineteen rescued from a sinking vessel off Karnataka coast

Two Coast Guard helicopters managed to rescue nineteen people onboard a sinking commercial ship off the Karwar harbour in coastal Karnataka amid stormy weather on Tuesday. But, a 28-year-old sailor, who jumped into the sea to save himself before the rescue operation could begin, died due to head injuries.

The 271-metre long and 35-metre high bulk carrier vessel from Singapore – Ocean Sekaya - had arrived at Karwar on May 24 from Karachi and was berthed on an island near the lighthouse. With a capacity to hold 75,000 of cargo, the ship was to pick up a load of iron ore fines.

But, high velocity winds and huge waves began rocking the rocking the vessel incessantly on Tuesday, leading to the snapping of the anchor. The ship began drifting in the sea and sailed along with the winds for about 8 kms before colliding with the treacherous Oyster Rock near the Karwar coast. The vessel suffered structural damage and began sinking, leading to panic among the twenty persons onboard.

Second officer Azeem Mansur, a native of Mumbai, sensed danger to his life and leapt out of the sinking vessel. But, he died after suffering head injuries soon thereafter.

The Karwar Port officer, who received the distress signals from the sinking vessel, immediately alerted the Coast Guard headquarters and Mangalore. Two Coast Guard helicopters took off from Goa after receiving the message and airlifted all the nineteen survivors, police said. The rescued persons, who had been put up at Karwar Port Guest House, include Captain R A Sharma and his wife.

Though Coast Guard helicopter, which rushed to the accident spot soon after receiving the alert, had to make a couple of futile attempts in the rescue operation. Only after battling with heavy gales and incessant rains for almost three hours, the helicopters managed to rescue the nineteen persons onboard the sinking ship.

Search operations to locate the body of Azeem Mansur were launched with the help of expert divers from Goa and Mangalore after the rains subsided.

Naval officers said the ship had crashed against a huge rock. The ship’s outer hull was punctured, but the inner hull was intact. Water had gushed into the engine room. The crash had left the ship tilting at an angle of 20 degrees. “If the ship had tilted a little more, the casualties could have been higher”, a naval officer said.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard is now on a high alert for a possible oil spill from the badly badly damaged ship.