Indian Coast Guard Ship Veera, which was on patrol off the Andhra coast, took prompt action and rescued nine fishermen who were seriously burnt and injured when their boat caught fire and sank in the sea on 5 April 2024. ICGS Veera had received a radio message from a nearby fishing boat about a major fire aboard Indian Fishing Boat (IFB) 'Durga Bhavani' about 65 nautical miles off Visakhapatnam port.
An Andhra-registered boat, IFB Durga Bhavani, had departed from Kakinada port on March 26, 2024 with nine crew. The boat caught fire on 5 April, resulting in the explosion of a gas cylinder onboard. All nine fishermen jumped into the water to escape but during this time some of them suffered serious burns. The fishing boat damaged by the explosion sank at the same location within minutes. Information about the fire and explosion was passed from a nearby boat to the coast guard ship, which proceeded to pick up survivors.
Sensing the gravity of the situation, ICGS Veera proceeded at high speed to provide assistance to the survivors and reached the spot within a few hours. All nine survivors were transferred to the ICG ship where they were provided first aid by a medical team.
Meanwhile, Coast Guard District Headquarters No. 6 in coordination with JD Fisheries Visakhapatnam immediately arranged ambulances with medical teams to evacuate the critically injured IFB crew. All the injured fishermen were shifted to King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam for further treatment. Due to the quick response of the ICG ship, the entire rescue operation was completed within a short period of six hours.
The Indian Coast Guard is the lead agency providing assistance to fishermen at sea as well as the national coordination agency for search and rescue at sea.
