Visakhapatnam: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was given a detailed presentation on “Operation Sagar Aaraksha” by the Indian Coast Guard(ICG). Defence Minister lauded their fire fighting efforts & congratulated ICG personnel for preventive pollution response during the operation.
The Indian Coast Guard (ICO) saved the Biodiversity of the regions of southern India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives by successfully dousing a fire aboard a tanker vessel carrying three lakh tonnes of crude oil on September 3.
The ICG spearheaded the seven day long operations, the MT New Diamond with 23 crew members was on its way from Kuwait to Paradip Port and reported a fire which was a result of a boiler explosion on board, 40 nautical miles off Tirrukkovil in southeast Sri Lanka. The distress call was picked up by Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) Colombo and MRCC Mumbai.
ICG authorities said that with its recent efforts, it had recorded a significant achievement in its maritime history by coordinating a major firefighting operation aboard the very large carrier loaded with Kuwait Export Crude, which was protected despite the raging fire intermittent explosions.
“Six ICG ships, including specialist pollution response vessels, two Dornier aircraft were also deployed for rescue operations along with Sri Lankan vessels, which doused the fire,” ICG authorities said.
