The Indian Coast Guard took an injured fisherman off a fishing boat in the Arabian Sea on 5 November 2026. The Coast Guard reported the rescue on X on 6 November.
The fisherman is 21 years old. He had a severe head injury on board the fishing boat Shri Dhanlaxmi. The boat was about 40 nautical miles (about 74 km) off Jafrabad, in the state of Gujarat.
What happened
The fisheries office in Jafrabad told the Coast Guard that the man needed medical help. The alert came at about 9:30 in the evening, a local news site reports.
The Coast Guard station at Pipavav organised a medical evacuation. A medical evacuation (medevac) means taking a sick or injured person off a ship to get care ashore.
The fast patrol boat ICGS C-409 went to the fishing boat. It took the fisherman on board. The crew gave him first aid on the way back.
The patrol boat brought him to Pipavav harbour. From there he went straight to a hospital in Rajula for urgent care.
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The reports do not say how he was hurt or how he is now. They do not give his name.
A few days earlier, the Coast Guard also brought an injured fisherman ashore at night off Mangaluru.
What fishing crews can do when someone has a head injury
A head injury can be worse than it looks. A person can seem fine at first and then get worse hours later. These steps help:
Call for help early. Use VHF radio on channel 16, or press the red distress button on a DSC radio. DSC (Digital Selective Calling) sends your position by itself.
Give the boat name, your position, the number of people on board and what the injury is. Say if the person is awake.
Ask for medical advice by radio. Coast guards can connect you to a doctor. They can also send a boat or helicopter.
Keep the injured person still and lying down. If they may have hurt their neck, do not move the head or neck.
Stop bleeding by pressing a clean cloth firmly on the wound. Do not press hard on a part of the skull that feels soft or broken.
Watch the person all the time. Check that they breathe and can answer you. If they vomit, turn the whole body on its side together.
Get help at once if they become sleepy, confused, vomit again or have a fit. These are danger signs.
Head injuries on fishing boats often come from moving gear. Keep clear of swinging blocks, booms and winch ropes. Wear a helmet where one is provided.
Before each trip, tell your family or the boat owner where you will fish and when you will return. Emergency and help numbers are on Crewboard's useful links page.
The Indian Coast Guard also helped other fishing crews recently. Read how it found eight fishermen adrift near the Myanmar boundary.
Cover photo: Fishing boats at anchor at Vanakbara port, Diu, on the Gujarat coast, June 2021. Illustrative photo, not the boat in this story. Photo: SMarndi/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).
Sources: Indian Coast Guard on X: medical evacuation 40 NM off Jafrabad by ICGS C-409 (6 Nov 2026), Dot Times: Coast Guard rescues injured fisherman 40 nautical miles off Jafrabad (8 Nov 2026).
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