The Indian Coast Guard has rescued eight fishermen whose boat drifted near the India–Myanmar maritime boundary. The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Sri Vijaya Puram, formerly Port Blair, answered a distress alert on 5 November 2026.
The alert came through a Distress Alert Transmitter (DAT). A DAT is a small radio that fishing boats use to call for help. The boat was IFB Sandhiya Grapper-II. It was north of East Island, near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with Myanmar.
How the rescue went
The Coast Guard deployed the ship ICGS Rajkamal for the search. An Indian Coast Guard Dornier aircraft also joined the search. Together they found the boat and its eight crew.
A technical team repaired the defective fuel injection pump at sea. This restored the boat's propulsion. The boat then returned safely to Junglighat harbour in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
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What crews can learn
Test your DAT and other distress gear before you leave harbour. Know how to send an alert, and keep the unit dry and charged.
If the main engine fails, call for help early. Do not wait until you drift into another country's waters or into heavy traffic.
Carry basic spare parts for fuel pumps and filters when you fish far from home. A small spare can restore propulsion after a breakdown.
Keep lifejackets on and ready. Stay with the boat unless it is sinking.
Tell fisheries officers or the Coast Guard your sailing plan when you go far offshore.
Read related Crewboard posts on an India Coast Guard night medevac off Mangaluru and a Sri Lanka navy fisherman medevac off Trincomalee.
Official help lines are in Crewboard's useful links. Open jobs for seafarers are on external vacancies.
Cover photo: Haddo wharf harbour at Port Blair (Sri Vijaya Puram), Andaman Islands, in November 2018. Illustrative photo of the area, not this rescue. Photo: Yercaud-elango / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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