The mast of Tomy’s ‘vessel was broken and was seen hanging on the side, an Indian Navy spokesperson said.
Commander Abhilash Tomy, who was traced by an Indian Navy Reconnaissance aircraft, will be rescued by French vessel Osiris in the next 16 hours, the Indian Navy announced on Sunday. Tomy will then be picked up by Australian Naval ship HMAS Ballarat, which has already left Perth to rescue him, the Navy added.
INS Satpura will arrive at Tomy’s current location by Friday, the Navy said.
This came two days after the commander injured his back and his sailing vessel dismasted off Perth coast during a solo round-the-world yacht race.
@abhilashtomy shall be picked up in next 16 hrs by french vessel Osiris. Thereafter likely to R/V @Australian_Navy HMAS Ballarat, which has left Perth to bring him. Earliest arrival of our ship #INSSatpura in current location later @DefenceMinIndia@nsitharaman @ggr2018official
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) September 23, 2018
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted, “Spoke to VCNS VAdm Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM regarding the condition of injured navy officer @abhilashtomy. The Rescue Mission is being coordinated with the Australian Navy.The injured officer shall be picked up in the next 16 hrs by a French vessel Osiris.”
Spoke to VCNS VAdm Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM regarding the condition of injured navy officer @abhilashtomy. The Rescue Mission is being coordinated with the Australian Navy.The injured officer shall be picked up in the next 16 hrs by a French vessel Osiris.#GoldenGlobeRace2018
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) September 23, 2018
Earlier in the day, the Indian Navy spokesperson had said that HMAS Ballarat is already in the way and that the situation is being closely monitored from the Naval headquarters in New Delhi and joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Melbourne,
A P8i aircraft dispatched by the Navy from Port Luis Mauritius managed to establish visual contact with Tomy’s ‘Thuriya’, an indigenously built sailing vessel. Thuriya’s mast was broken and was seen hanging on the side, the spokesperson added.
A P8i aircraft dispatched by the Navy from Port Luis Mauritius has established visual contact with Tomy’s ‘Thuriya’, an indigenously built sailing vessel.
“The capability of our P8i has been a humongous force multiplier who has given us and the Australian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) a huge input into the state of Thuriya for planning purposes. Indian Naval Defence Attache’ in Australia is camping in regional MRCC,” the Navy said.
According to a SITREP received from JRCC Australia on Saturday, Tomy has requested for a stretcher as he is not able to move on his own. He is in communication with the Race Control at France through messages which is relaying the message further to JRCC Australia.
Tomy is representing India in the Golden Globe Race 2018 (GGR). He was in the third position, out of the 18 international participants, and has sailed over 10,500 nautical miles in the last 84 days, since the commencement of the race on July 1, 2018.
Tomy, who became the first Indian to have circumnavigated the globe in 2013, is the only Indian participating in the Golden Globe Race that involves a gruelling 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe. The adventure event began in July this year from France.