Porbandar: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued five fishermen from a sinking Indian fishing boat Premsagar, at mid-sea, approximately 50 km from Porbandar on Sunday.

The ICG's action came in response to an SOS call.

ICG Ship C-16 sailed immediately from Porbandar after input from the fisheries community regarding the sinking boat was received at Maritime Rescue Sub Centre Porbandar of Indian Coast Guard's Dist HQ -1 (South Gujarat Daman & Diu), according to a statement by the Indian Coast Guard.

The ICG ship C-161 arrived in the vicinity of the fishing boat in a short time and launched the rescue and support mission.

The ICG team stopped flooding in the boat temporarily and the half-submerged boat was tried to be towed by another fishing boat in the vicinity. However, the fishing boat that was already 75 per cent flooded, sank 12 km off Porbandar, the Indian Coast Guard said in a statement.

The ICG ship rescued all five crew members and medical support was provided to them. The survivors were brought to Porbander and handed over to the Fisheries Association.

Earlier on March 20, the Indian Coast Guard carried out a rescue operation of eight crew members from a flooded boat after receiving a distress call off the coast of Kundapura in Karnataka.

"In a swift operation @IndiaCoastGuard Ship Rajdoot rescued 08 crew of distressed IFB Ajmeer-I (IND-KA-02-MM-4882) 10 NM west of #Kundapura on 20 Mar which had a major flooding at sea. Indian Coast Guard Ship Rajdoot reassured the crew & provided de-flooding assistance," the Indian Coast Guard said in a post on X.

It further said that the disabled boat was handed over to the IFB Goat Fish boat for further towing towards the Gangoli harbour.

"After confirming safety of boat and crew it handed over the disabled boat to buddy boat IFB Gold Fish (IND-KA-03-MM-4566) for further towing towards #Gangoli harbour. Boat and crew safely entered harbour under tow #WeProtect," it added.

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