Date:08/07/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/07/08/stories/2007070854230100.htm

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Eight sailors rescued near Mangalore

Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE: Coast Guard and New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) in a joint operation rescued a sailor who fell overboard and seven of his colleagues who went to rescue him on the high seas, 10 km from here on Saturday. While the Coast Guard pressed its fast patrol vessel ICGS Kasturba Gandhi into service, the port authorities deployed tug Varahi.

The port received a distress call from MT Abdul Kalam Azad at 7.15 a.m. that its helmsman Madhusudan Paul (55), a resident of Hooghly in West Bengal, had been washed overboard when he was on the pilot ladder. Although the port authorities sent Varahi, it could not approach him because of the water swell.

The Coast Guard authorities received information of the incident at 7.45 a.m. ICGS Kasturba Gandhi captained by A. A. Hebbar sailed out from the harbour at 8.20 a.m.