In a swift SAR mission, the Indian Coast Guard was able to save the lives of 15 mariners from Syria. These mariners were on a foreign-flagged ship named MV Princess Miral that had run aground on Tuesday, off New Mangalore. The ship was loaded with about 8000 tons of steel coil.

The SAR mission had been coordinated by ICG ships Amartya and Vikram. These braved poor weather conditions during the rescue mission. The crew members of the grounded ship had abandoned the vessel owing to a breach in the hull. There was water ingress in the holds. DIG S B Venkatesh, the commander and Coast Guard of Karnataka mentioned that the vessel had set sail for Malaysia from Lebanon.

Venkatesh added that the successful rescue operation has once again reaffirmed the capability of the ICG as a nodal agency for M-SAR.