Abhilash Tomy Rescue LIVE: Navy Commander Rescued 3 Days After Injury SOS During Golden Globe Race

Confirming the news of his son's successful rescue, PC Tomy said Abhilash Tomy is conscious but tired and dehydrated. Indian Navy's decorated sailor Commander was rescued from the Indian Ocean on Monday, three days after he suffered a severe injury when the main mast of his boat was ripped off in a storm.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted that Tomy’s condition is stable and he will be shifted to Île Amsterdam island by the evening.   

A sense of relief to know that naval officer @abhilashtomy is rescued by the French fishing vessel. He's concious and doing okay. The vessel will shift him to a nearby island (I'lle Amsterdam) by evening. INS Satpura will take him to Mauritius for medical attention. @PIB_India

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) September 24, 2018

An orange stretcher was used to evacuate Abhilash Tomy by French ship Osiris on Monday afternoon.  As per reports, he is in a conscious state and has been shifted to the French Vessel Osiris.

Indian Naval Commander Abhilash Tomy has finally been rescued, Indian Navy Tweeted at 1.03pm on Monday. 

Tomy rescued safely @nsitharaman @pmo @Australian_Navy @DefenceMinIndia @ggr2018official @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/G3z7mlLGu3

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) September 24, 2018

Originally from Alappuzha in Kerala, Tomy grew up in Naval bases across the country, since his father was in the Naval police. In an interview to The Indian Express last year, Tomy said he grew up reading books like Moby Dick and Treasure Island and dreamed of having great adventures at sea. 

Indian Naval Commander Abhilash Tom is the only Indian in the Golden Globe Race (GGR), that involves a gruelling 30,000-miles solo circumnavigation of the globe in a yacht with no modern technology except communication equipment.

"Abhilash Tomy is in touch through text messages with the (race) organisers. We will come to know about his exact health condition after we meet him," Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Western Naval Command Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief said about the 39-year-old Kirti Chakra awardee.

Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Western Naval Command Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, told reporters on Monday afternoon: "An Australian naval ship and a French fishing ship are closest to Tomy's location. Some civilian and naval aircraft have also been mobilised. He is expected to be rescued soon."

A report in Indian Express said Abhilash Tomy’s friends have been in touch with another participant, Gregor McGuckin, an Ireland national whose yacht was also dismasted in the same storm. McGuckin is also expected to reach Tomy soon. “McGuckin is an expert hand-radio operator. He has been in constant touch with us. We have been directing him towards Tomy’s location while we are also guiding him with the speed he needs to maintain,” a source said.

Officials involved in the rescue operation said Tomy’s communications devices are running out of charge and he is barely responding to texts. The French vessel Osiris, which is on its way to rescue him, is also facing hostile weather—strong winds and eight-metre-high waves.  

AMSA search and rescue operations manager Alan Lloyd said there were concerns that Abhilash Tomy had suffered a spinal injury and his activity on board his vessel had been minimal, but said that would be assessed when the Osiris arrived. "We then have to undertake a medical assessment of Tomy... depending upon that medical assessment, we will either remove him from the yacht or tow the yacht, most likely to Amsterdam which is about 180 kilometres away. Then we can get further medical assistance from a doctor who is at the research station there," he said.

Earlier, the Race organisers said Tomy had sent a message saying "ACTIVATED EPIRB. CANT WALK. MIGHT NEED STRETCHER". A subsequent message read "CAN MOVE TOES. FEEL NUMB. CAN'T EAT OR DRINK. TOUGH 2 REACH GRAB BAG".

According to Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Abhilash Tomy and his damaged yacht are in a remote part of the Indian ocean, 3,400 kilometres west of Perth.

AMSA has tasked a number of aircraft and boats to assist injured sailor Abhilash Tomy. French fisheries vessel FPV Osiris is expected to arrive later today to attempt a rescue. Tomy and his damaged yacht are in a remote part of the Indian ocean, 3,400 kilometres west of Perth. pic.twitter.com/d8cRceehEp

— AMSA News (@AMSA_News) September 24, 2018

Expressing concern over naval officer Abhilash Tomy's deteriorating health, Robin Knox-Johnston, who won the inaugural Golden Globe race and became the first person to sail solo around the world nonstop, tweeted:

Very concerned about @abhilashtomy’s injuries and will be glad when assistance can reach him. Cc @ggr2018official #GGR2018

— Robin Knox-Johnston (@SirRKJ) September 23, 2018

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) search and rescue operations manager Alan Lloyd said the rescue area could be "treacherous" due to poor weather conditions and was known to cause damage to vessels similar to that suffered by Abhilash Tomy's yacht. "The crew themselves know the territory very well and in fact we've used the same vessel on other occasions, when we've had to provide assistance to yachtsman in distress in these areas," Lloyd was quoted as saying by ABC news. 

On Monday, Australian Maritime Safety Authority search and rescue operations manager Alan Lloyd said very limited information is available about Tomy's condition, but help is getting closer. "The French research vessel Osiris will arrive in the location of Tomy's vessel at approximately mid-afternoon Canberra time, probably about 2:00pm West Australian time," Lloyd told ABC news.

Commander 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. His boat, the Thuriya, is a replica of Robin Knox-Johnston's Suhaili, winner of the first Golden Globe Race in 1968.​ 

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had on Sunday said Abhilash Tomy would be rescued in the next 16 hours. “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,” Sitharaman tweeted. 

RECAP | The naval officer was in third position in the Golden Globe Race ​and has sailed over 10,500 nautical miles in the last 84 days, since the race started on July 1.

RECAP | Abhilash Tomy was dismasted and had suffered a back injury in extremely rough weather and sea condition, with wind speeds clocking at 130 kmph and waves rising 10 metre high, off Perth on Friday. The 39-year-old Indian Golden Globe Race skipper, who is serving as Indian Naval Officer, is in the southern Indian Ocean, approximately 1,900 nautical miles from Perth, Australia.

Abhilash Tomy will be rescued by French vessel Osiris and then picked up by Australian Naval ship HMAS Ballarat, which has already left Perth. 

@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

A spokesman said the capability of IAF's P8i aircraft has proved to be a big force multiplier for the rescue. Quoting Captain Chandrahas Vivek, pilot of the aircraft which flew from Mauritius, the spokesman said the aircraft established visual contact with the yacht and has landed back at Port Louis Mauritius. The aircraft remained for two hours on the task in the area and landed at Mauritius. The spokesperson said heavy rains have been reported from the area, adding that Abhilash Tomy can only be rescued by naval ships. Tomy had on Sunday managed to get in touch with race organisers in France through messages and had requested for a stretcher as he could not move on his own. 

The latest update on Abhilash Tomy on the website of Golden Globe Race.

According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the French vessel is now at an hour’s distance from Abhilash Tomy. “It's going to be a difficult situation... we do know he has severely injured his back. His movement is restricted. It's a multinational rescue operation. Indian navy is providing assistance,” said an official from the Australian statutory authority.

The spokesman said all efforts were being made to rescue Commander Tomy who had suffered a back injury Friday after his yacht was hit by a vicious storm with 14-metre-high waves mid-way across south Indian Ocean. "INS Satpura and INS Jyoti are heading at top speed to reach Tomy", the spokesman said. However, INS Satpura was expected to reach the location only by Friday. He said the situation was being monitored at Naval Headquarters in New Delhi, as well as by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at Melbourne, Australia. The Indian Navy's P8I aircraft, which flew from Mauritius in the early hours Sunday, has located the "mast broken boat rolling excessively", he said. "Commander Tomy responded by ping on EPIRB as the aircraft was flying over him," the spokesman said here.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tweeted on Sunday evening that Tomy would be rescued within 16 hours. She said Abhilash Tomy would be picked up by French vessel Osiris. The minister also said she had spoken to vice-chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P regarding the condition of the injured navy officer. A defence spokesman said Tomy would to be brought on board Australian Naval ship HMAS Ballarat, which has already left Perth to rescue him. Indian Naval Defence Attache' in Australia has been camping in the regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) monitoring the rescue mission, he said.

Indian Naval officer Abhilash Tomy, who was badly injured while participating in the Golden Globe Race, "rolling excessively" in the south Indian Ocean, is expected to be rescued by a French vessel on Monday. As per the latest update posted on the website of the Golden Globe Race, Tomy managed to drink “ice tea” and was suffering from vomiting and chest burning. As per the live tracker put out by the race organisers, Tomy’s current coordinates are 39° 32.79 S, 078° 3.29 E.