The Navy rescued a Multi-day Fishing Vessel with a crew of six onboard in distress in southern seas south-west of Galle on 27th December 2011.
The fishing vessel had stalled at mid-sea due to an engine failure and begun to drift perilously towards the deep seas when the Navy timely moved in and secured the vessel and the lives of the crew onboard.
The rescued craft is a 38-foot-long vessel named “Nethum Putha 01” which had left for fishing from Galle on 05th December. It had begun drifting on 24th December and subsequently, the Navy was contacted by the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to render assistance. Accordingly, Sri Lanka Naval Vessel Prathapa was directed for the rescue mission and the fishing vessel with its crew was towed safely to the Galle Fishery Harbour on 27th December 2011.
Sri Lanka Navy performs a multi-faceted role being the first line of defence of the island-nation. Fishery protection and providing assistance to fishermen in distress are among its numerous tasks and naval ships and craft are deployed accordingly on search and rescue operations in deep seas.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff , December 28, 2011; Image: navy