Cement carrier sinks in Arabian Sea, 14 rescued

Fourteen crew members were rescued from a cement carrier which sank in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat on Wednesday in stormy weather, an official said here.

M.V. Coastal Pride sent out a distress signal after its engines failed around 25 km west of Dahanu in Maharashtra on Tuesday evening.

The Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard had directed the ship to anchor even as towing arrangements were being made.

But around 8.40 a.m. on Wednesday, the ship sank in the Daman coast, around 75 nautical miles north of Mumbai.

The Indian Navy mounted a rescue operation with ships INS Shikra, INS Colaba and a Seaking helicopter along with the Coast Guard's two Chetak helicopters and rescued all the 14 crewmen safely.

Two days ago, the Maritime Rescue Cooridation Centre Mumbai handled a distress call from a newly constructed vessel whose towline broke while it was being towed from Shanghai to Abu Dhabi.

In another emergency, 25 containers fell off from two ships, including 20 from M.V. MOL Cosmos and five from TCI Arjun.

On Monday, braving the rough sea, heavy rains and poor visibility, the navy and Coast Guard had rescued 20 crew members from a stranded ship M.V. Jindal Kamakshi off Palghar in northern Maharashtra.