Coast Guard staff rescue 7 fishermen

Visakhapatnam: Indian Coast Guard rescued seven fishermen by airlifting them from ONGC rig ABAN-II on Tuesday. The fishermen were provided with temporary shelter by ONGC (ABAN-II ) off Kakinada on the request of Indian Coast Guard.

The Two fishing boats (IND-AP-3573 and 4334) reached safely at Machilipatnam with a total of 12 crew. As many as six Indian Coast Guard ships were deployed in the area off Kakinada for continuing the search of two more fishing boats with crew.

One boat of Kakinada went missing in the blue waters. According to Joint Director, fisheries, five fishermen of Visakhapatnam district are working as crew members in the boat belong to Kakinada of East Godavari district. The government has requested the Indian Coast Guard for rescue operations.

Aerial Survey: A Naval Dornier aircraft from INS Dega was launched with first light from INS Dega on Tuesday to undertake aerial survey of coastal areas around Kakinada affected by cyclone Phethai. The aircraft carried out an aerial inspection from Visakhapatnam along the coast up to Machilipatnam.

Photographs taken by the aircraft revealed flooding in the low lying areas including paddy fields in Kothapalli, Katrenikona villages and Yanam the south direction of Kakinada. Another Naval Dornier is presently deployed for undertaking search operation for three deep sea fishing trawlers with 22 crew members reported missing since yesterday.