Navy rescues fishermen aboard stranded dinghy at sea

Sri Lanka Navy, with the facilitation of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC Colombo) stationed at Navy Headquarters, rescued two fishermen aboard a dinghy that was swept away to the Indian waters.

 The dinghy that had ventured out for fishing practice from South Bar, Mannar was in distress due to a technical failure.

In response to a request for assistance by the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Sri Lanka Navy was pressed into action to locate the dinghy that had gone missing, while out on a fishing voyage from South Bar on Tuesday.  

As the search and rescue operation was going on, MRCC Chennai had informed MRCC Colombo of the whereabouts of the missing dinghy, having spotted it by an Indian Coast Guard ship in Indian waters, after it drifted beyond the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

Accordingly, an Indian Coast Guard Ship had assisted the ill-fated dinghy with fishermen to reach the IMBL, from which it was safely towed shoreward by Sri Lanka Naval Ship (SLNS) ‘Suranimila’ today.

 Meanwhile, MRCC Colombo, thus far in the year 2021, has responded to distress calls of 05 merchant ships and 21 fishing vessels in the Search and Rescue Region of Sri Lanka.