Coast Guard evacuates injured Syrian crew mid-sea near Chennai

CHENNAI: Swinging into action after receiving an alert about a medical emergency on board a merchant ship, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) carried out a mid-sea evacuation on Tuesday to aid a 20-year-old crew member who suffered a serious injury in a fall while working on the deck.

The Belize-registered cargo vessel, MV Haje Nafela, was heading from Male, Maldives, to Kakinada, when one of the crew members, Abdulkader Yahya from Syria, sustained a serious head injury while working on deck. He had a severe contusion on the right eye and had intermittent memory loss. The vessel was more than 200 nautical miles from Chennai.

After realising that Yahya’s condition was serious, the master of the ship contacted the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) in Chennai around 11 am, requesting urgent medical evacuation of the injured man.

The centre immediately coordinated the operation and directed the master of the vessel to proceed with best speed towards Chennai, while a high-speed interceptor boat C-440, with a medical team on board, was immediately deployed from here. In the meantime, telemedicine advice was provided to the master by a Coast Guard medical officer. ICG ship Annie Besant was also diverted for assistance.

The officials on the interceptor boat evacuated Yahya at sea around 60 nautical miles from the coast and brought him to Chennai at about 2.15 pm. He was provided first aid en route and on arrival, the patient was handed over to the local agent for further medical management. His condition was reported to be stable, said the Coast Guard.

The swift and coordinated evacuation of the injured crew has again proved the unabated commitment of the Indian Coast Guard towards safeguarding precious lives at sea, the Coast Guard said in a statement, adding that it was a befitting display of its motto, ‘Vayam Rakshama’ - we protect.