VASCO: The Coast Guard and naval teams, on Friday evening, rescued 23 crew members onboard ‘M V Maersk Miami,’ a container carrier heading towards JNPT, Mumbai, after the international cargo ship caught fire, about 43 nautical miles off the coast of Goa.

All the crew members were immediately transferred to other ships in a rescue operation carried out by the Coast Guard and the Navy teams from Goa and Mumbai, soon after receiving information about the incident from the Coast Guard regional headquarters (West) OPS room. All the crew members are reported to be safe.
Whilst on patrol off Tarapur, Maharashtra coast, the Coast Guard ship ‘Subhadra Kumari Chauhan’ received a distress call informing about a major fire in the engine room of ‘M V Maersk Miami.’ Soon, merchant ships plying in the distressed ship’s area were activated so that initial assistance could be provided. A naval team from Goa immediately sailed with medical staff and diverted two naval ships to rescue the crewmen.
Simultaneously, the Coast Guard District Headquarters, Goa dispatched an interceptor boat. Coast Guard ship ‘ICGS Samrat’ which was patrolling off the West coast was also diverted for help. The ‘M V Aranda Colossus’ and ‘M V Chimes’ of the Coast Guard were also diverted to help in rescue operation.
“Naval ships and CG C-133 arrived on scene by midnight and rendered necessary help to the vessel,” said the deputy inspector general of Coast Guard, Commandant M S Dangi and further added that the fire was doused off by 2 a.m. on Saturday.
The owner of the distressed vessel is reported to have dispatched two tugs for assistance, which were likely to arrive on Saturday late evening. Commandant Dangi of the Coast Guard informed that ‘ICGS Samrat’ would continue to be in the area until the arrival of the tugs. The prompt action by Navy and Coast Guard ships and merchant ships have received appreciation from the marine fraternity.