The injured Filipino sailor showing his injured thumb before being taken to Port Blair’s GB Pant Hospital. (Photo: Indian Coast Guard)
New Delhi: In a swift and coordinated operation, the Indian Coast Guard successfully evacuated a seriously injured Filipino crew member from MV Olympia GR, a Marshall Island-flagged vessel. The incident occurred off the coast of Port Blair in the early hours of Friday.
The emergency unfolded when the 39-year-old crew member’s left thumb was severely crushed while working in the engine room. The vessel, en route from West Bengal’s Haldia port to Indonesia, was navigating through the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, on Thursday afternoon, when the accident took place. The master of the vessel promptly contacted the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Port Blair at 4.08pm and sought urgent assistance.
@IndiaCoastGuard Ship C-428 #ANC in a swiftly coordinated effort evacuated a 39 yrs old #Filipino crew today from MV Olympia GR, off #PortBlair. The vessel was enroute from Haldia to Indonesia . The patient’s left hand thumb was severely crushed while working in engine room.… pic.twitter.com/iII5FJgvh8
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) August 9, 2024
Upon receiving the distress call, MRCC Port Blair immediately swung into action, advising the vessel to head towards Port Blair. Simultaneously, the MRCC alerted an ICG search-and-rescue unit, which had a ship and a helicopter, to remain on standby for the medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) operation.
The ICG ship, C-428, was swiftly deployed from Port Blair to execute the MEDEVAC. The crew member was successfully evacuated from MV Olympia GR and brought to Port Blair on Friday morning. He was then transferred to the GB Pant Hospital at Port Blair’s Atlanta Point for further treatment.
In another medical emergency at sea on Tuesday, the ICG had rescued a 21-year-old Indian fisherman with second-degree burns off the coast of Andhra Pradesh.
