Indian Navy helps distressed merchant ship near Oman

Mumbai, March 12 The Indian Navy rushed to the aid of a stranded merchant navy ship after most of its onboard equipment failed in the high seas while sailing from Oman to Iraq, officials said here on Friday.

During its voyage on March 9, the cargo ship, M.V. Nayan, drifted out at sea after its propulsion, power generation machinery, navigational and other equipment failed, and it sent out an SOS call.

After receiving the broadcast, the Indian Naval Ship INS Talwar, deployed in the Gulf of Oman made a preliminary aerial assessment about the distress situation onboard the cargo carrier.

Later, INS Talwar dispatched its Visit Board, Search and Seizure team and a technical team by boat to render assistance to the stranded cargo ship which had 7 Indian crew members onboard.

After working for over 7 hours onboard, the Indian Navy's teams managed to restore its two generators, steering pump, sea water pump, compressor and main engine, making the vessel seaworthy again.

( With inputs from IANS )