In two-day drill, Indian Coast Guard ‘rescues’ 200 persons from ‘ferry on fire’

Panaji: The Indian Coast Guard conducted a two-day regional maritime search and rescue exercise and, as part of the drill, the authorities simulated a maritime emergency just off Goa’s coast. The aim of the annual exercise is to improve inter-agency coordination and to test established operating procedures.
As part of the exercise, a simulated fire was created on a passenger ferry that had 200 people on board. The passenger ferry issued a distress transmission and activated the emergency beacon to alert the maritime rescue coordination centre (MRCC) at Mumbai. The MRCC conveyed the distress message along with the location of the passenger ferry to the Coast Guard centre at Vasco.
“The aim of the exercise was to improve synergy amongst the different stakeholders, validate and exercise the SOPs, and check the preparedness of the Coast Guard and partner agencies,” said the Indian Coast Guard in a statement.
The Indian Coast Guard is the nodal agency for coordinating maritime search and rescue.
As per procedure, a Coast Guard ship and a tug from the Mormagao Port Authority were tasked with rushing to the scene. The coast guard also tested response time and rescue procedures if passengers were to jump into the sea to save their lives. In order to rescue any passengers who jump overboard, a Coast Guard Dornier aircraft dropped a life raft close to the survivors.
Meanwhile, four coast guard ships, an Indian Navy patrol vessel and two helicopters also demonstrated the simulated rescue of passengers.
Coast guard officials said that in the event of a similar fire aboard a ship, the survivors are to be transported to Miramar beach where waiting ambulances can take the patients to Goa Medical hospital for further treatment.
A medical camp was also set up at Mormagao port to treat passengers who were rescued by ships.