13 Indians rescued from Bay of Bengal in joint op with Bangladesh

Thirteen Indians were rescued from a fishing boat caught under inclement weather condition inside Bangladeshi waters in the Bay of Bengal, following a joint operation by Indian and Bangladeshi Coast Guards on Saturday.

The regional headquarters of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) at Kolkata on Saturday afternoon received information regarding distress onboard Indian fishing boat 'Tara Shankar'.

After receiving the information, the ICG immediately contacted the West Zone Headquarters of Bangladeshi Coast Guard (BGC) at Mongla and requested for a rescue operation. Following this, the BCG immediately deployed one Patrol and one Naval ship from Mongla harbor for the search and rescue operation.

By evening, the Indian fishing boat was located near Mongla Fair Way Buoy. All 13 people were rescued and the disabled boat was taken under tow and brought to Pussur River mouth, located about 60 nautical miles east of the International Maritime Boundary Line. The boat was towed back to India.

The prompt operation could be executed owing to a 'Memorandum of Understanding' signed between Indian and Bangladeshi Coast Guards to carry out maritime search and rescue operations in the hour of need to keep the Bay of Bengal waters safe.