Indian Coast Guard evacuates injured Filipino from merchant vessel off Gujarat coast

Ahmedabad, February 15

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A 57-year-old citizen of the Philippines has been evacuated by the Indian Coast Guard from a merchant vessel at the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast and hospitalised after he fell unconscious on suffering severe head injuries, the ICG said.

The patient was shifted to a government hospital in Porbandar city and later taken to another state-run medical facility in Rajkot, it said.

The medical evacuation was undertaken on Monday from the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel (MV) Irenes Ray, which was on passage from Sri Lanka to Pakistan, the ICG said in a release on Tuesday.

“ICG ship Ankit undertook medical evacuation of a foreign national from the Arabian Sea around 200 km off the Porbandar coast on Monday. The patient was safely brought to Porbandar and shifted to a government hospital at Porbandar, and then to Rajkot,” it said.

The ICG Maritime Rescue Sub Centre at Porbandar received a distress alert at around 4.30pm on Monday about a medical emergency on board the merchant vessel, said the release.

As soon as the distress signal was received, the ICG fast patrol ship Ankit was rushed and it made a rendezvous with the MV at 7.20pm, it said.

“A 57-year-old Philippines national was found to have suffered severe head injuries on board the vessel and was unconscious,” said the ICG.

“The patient was evacuated and taken on board an ICG ship. Immediate medical relief was provided at sea by an ICG medical team. The ship along with the patient entered Porbandar harbour at 11pm,” said the release.