Seven adrift crew members of sunken MSV Messiah rescued by Coast Guard off Lakshadweep

In a sea-air coordinated operation, Indian Coast Guard Ship Sujeet rescued seven crew members of MSV Messiah, which sank in the morning of 22nd January off Kalpeni in Lakshadweep archipelago. The vessel Messiah sailed from Tuticorin on January 19 (Tuesday), carrying cargo for Kavaratti. However, flooding onboard the vessel started at about 5 am on Friday and the ship started sinking while located off Kalpeni Island.

Based on information from the crew, the vessel's owner alerted Kalpeni port control that the vessel would enter for shelter. As the vessel didn't make it, the port control alerted the coast guard at around 11:30 am. 

An Indian Coast Guard Ship patrolling in the area was diverted and an aircraft was launched from Kochi. An interceptor boat was also sailed from Kavaratti for locating the distressed Vessel. The Coast Guard Dornier sighted the crew of MSV Messiah floating in a partially submerged lifeboat around 30 nautical miles southwest of Kalpeni island on Friday.

In the face of strong winds and adverse weather conditions, all the crew was picked up safely by the coast guard ship. The crew informed the coast guard that their vessel MSV Messiah sunk at around 9 am abs and since then they were floating in a lifeboat waiting to be rescued. All rescued personnel safely disembarked at Kavaratti and were handed over to local police.