The Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard rescued 14 of the crew of Indian Flag cement carrier ship MV Coastal Pride that sunk 75 nautical miles off Mumbai coast and 24 nautical miles of Daman on Wednesday morning. Navy launched a SeaKing chopper at 7:58 A.M. from INS Shikra (Naval Air Station), Colaba, while CG launched two Chetak helicopters at around 8:40 A.M. for the rescue operation.

The vessel, MV Coastal Pride, a cement carrier, sank 75 nautical miles off Mumbai and 24 nautical miles south of Daman coast, a Defence spokesperson said. After a call by the vessel, the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard launched its helicopters — Sea King and Chetak — that carried out the rescue operation.

“All crew safely evacuated to Umar Gaon,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said on Twitter. Six persons were recsued by the Coast Guard before the ship sank. The Sea King saved as many persons from the water joined by the Coast Guard that rescued two more.

The men, winched into helicopters that hovered in gusty winds, were evacuated to Umargaon where the chopper landed on the beach. This is the second such operation in 48 hours. The ship was waiting for towing vessel to sail out when it realised flooding in after the vessel suffered damages.

“It is tremendously difficult if you are hovering and maintaining a distance of around 20 to 30 feet because of the swell. Pilots do only that and air divers send winches down and bring up the men. It is a very, very specialised and precise operation to make sure there is no loss of life,” Navy spokesperson, Captain D K Sharma said.

Last week, all 20 crew members of a merchant vessel in distress in waters off the Mumbai coast were airlifted to safety during a daring rescue mission by an Indian Navy helicopter.