Indian Navy aircraft arrives in Philippines to search for missing sailors

A P-8I (Navy 323) left from its base at 11.45 pm last night.

An Indian Navy aircraft was dispatched to assist in search and rescue operations for the 10  missing sailors of MV Emerald Star which sank near the Philippines coast on October 13. The ship was carrying 26 Indians on board and 16 Indians have been already rescued.

A P 8I long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft left for Manila last night at 11.45 pm.  It landed at the Vilamor air base in Manila and will shortly
start the search operation, a senior official of the Navy said.

The aircraft is equipped with an inflatable dinghy capable of carrying 10 persons. It is also carrying emergency food and water supplies meant for airdropping to the survivors.

On Friday, the 33,205 tonne Emerald Star sent a distress signal to the Japanese coastguard as it sailed 280 km east of northern tip of Philippines. According to a Japanese coastguard spokesperson, two patrol boats and two planes were immediately dispatched to the site but a typhoon had made the rescue difficult. The spokesperson also said that the cargo ship had sunk while three other vessels sailing near the area rescued 15 crew members.

The aircraft will arrive in Manila at 9.00 am local time (01:00 UTC) and begin search and rescue operations right away.

I. List of 11 Crew were rescued by m/v Densa Cobra

(In Xiamen, China)

1. Second Engineer-Mr Madhavan Vaidan Suresh Kumar
2. Third Engineer-Mr Thalai Raj Alangaram
3. Junior Engineer-Mr Rengasamy Karuppiah
4. Electrical officer-Mr Lourdusamy Subash
5. Bosun-Mr Mansuri Muhammad Irfan
6. Ab-Mr Jegan Selvandaran
7. OS-Mr Ramani Rethina Kumar
8. Deck Cadet-Mr Annadurai Anandha Kumar
9. Oiler-Mr Renjith Lal
10. Wiper-Mr Agin Kigin
11. Engine Fitter-Mr Ram Kailash

II. 5 crew rescued by m/v SM Samarinda

(In Philippines)

1. Ch Officer- Mr Ganagalla Kishore Kumar
2. Eng. Cadet Umadurai Ramadurai
3. Chief Cook Mr Ramalingam Karthikayan
4. Tr O/S Mr Pascal Fernando Joseph Prakash
5. Deck Fitter Mr Dasari Prakasa Rao

III.  10 Crew missing and Search & Rescue in progress

1. Master- Capt Nair Rajesh Ramachandran
2. Second officer-Mr Rahul Kumar
3. Third officer-Mr Subramaniam Giridhar Kumar
4. Chief Engineer-Mr Rajput Shyam Singh
5. Fourth Engineer-Mr Subbaiah Suresh Kumar
6. Junior Engineer-Mr Chauhan Ashok Kumar
7. Ab-Mr Perumalsamy Gurumurthy
8. AB-Mr Malarvanan Silambarasan
9. Oiler-Mr Murugan Gowtham
10. Tr GS-Mr Bevin Thomas