Close X
Sunday, December 15, 2024
ADVT 
International

Watch: Moment When Indian Naval Commander Abhilash Tomy Was Rescued By French Vessel

Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Sep, 2018 12:57 PM

    Indian Navy sailor Abhilash Tomy was rescued from the Indian Ocean near Australia in a multi-nation operation on Monday, three days after he suffered a grievous back injury when a powerful storm hit his boat while he was on a solo race around the world, Navy officials said.

     

    Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the commander is “conscious and doing okay” after his ordeal.

     

    Tomy, 39, who was sailing as part of the Golden Globe Race (GGR) — a solo sailboat race around the world — drifted in the sea for three days before he was rescued by French fishing vessel Osiris, officials said.

     

    His boat Thuriya was hit by a deadly storm, about 1,900 nautical miles from Perth, Australia, on Friday. The main mast of his boat was ripped off by around 15-metre high waves, they said.

     

    Navy spokesperson Capt D K Sharma said French fishing vessel Osris, assisted by Indian Navy’s P8I surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, reached close to Thuriya around 1130 hrs (IST) and carried out a successful rescue operation using a small boat.

     
     
     
     

    “Cdr Tomy was rescued by a boat and rescue team from Osiris. The rescue team shifted Cdr Tomy in a stretcher from Thuriya to Osiris using their Gemini boat. He has been reported to be conscious and has been provided with initial medical care,” he said.

     

    Capt Sharma said Osiris proceeded to rescue a second sailor whose boat was also damaged in the storm. Thereafter, the French vessel will move to take shelter at Ile Amsterdam, about 100 nautical miles north of the rescue position. The island has a small hospital.

     

    Indian Naval ship Satpura has been sent to bring the commander, a Kirti Chakra awardee, back to India.

     

    The Australian Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra coordinated the rescue mission in cooperation with many agencies, including the Australian Defence Department and the Indian Navy.

     

    According to rescue officer Phil Gaden in Australia, Tomy had a severely injured back.

     

    “We believe that he’s very severely restricted in his ability to manoeuvre, his mobility is affected,” Gaden said.

     

    Tomy was in the third position in the race and sailed over 10,500 nautical miles in the last 84 days, since July 1 when the competition began.

     

    On Sunday, he managed to get in touch with the organisers of the race in France through messages and requested for help as he could not move on his own.

     

    “A sense of relief to know that naval officer @abhilashtomy is rescued by the French fishing vessel. He’s conscious and doing okay. The vessel will shift him to a nearby island (I’lle Amsterdam) by evening. INS Satpura will take him to Mauritius for medical attention,” Sitharaman tweeted.

     

    Back home in Kerala, Tomy’s family heaved a sigh of relief.

     

    “Praise the Lord. I am so happy...,” V C Tomy, a retired Naval personnel himself, told media persons at his home in Udayamperoor in Thrippunithura near Kochi.

     

    Tomy senior said he was confident his son will make a comeback to adventure sports.

     

    “He may be physically weak but he will be mentally stable. He will come back. I have full confidence in him, he said.

     

    The family is preparing to go to Australia to meet the pilot in the Indian Navy, who has covered 52,000 miles under sail, including a solo non-stop circumnavigation from Mumbai and back in 2012-13.

     

    He also represented India in the 2011 Cape Town to Rio Race, the Spanish Copa del Rey Race in 2014 and the Korea Cup for two years in succession.

     

    He has been awarded the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award, the Kirti Chakra for valour and courageous action and Mac Gregor medal.

     

    According to GGR, ahead of commencing his voyage, Tomy had said, “This event recreates in the closest way possible way, the magic of the original race.

     

    “The emphasis is not on technology and its management, but on seamanship and a direct experience of sea. This spartan philosophy is in keeping with my own view that a lot can be achieved with very little,” he was quoted as saying.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Google Won't Deploy Artificial Intelligence To Build Military Weapons: Sundar Pichai

    After facing backlash over its involvement in an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Pentagon project "Maven", Google CEO Sundar Pichai has enphasised that the company will not work on technologies that cause or are likely to cause overall harm.

    Google Won't Deploy Artificial Intelligence To Build Military Weapons: Sundar Pichai

    Dubai Court Charges Indian Man For Abusing Ex-Female Employer

    Dubai Court Charges Indian Man For Abusing Ex-Female Employer
    A 30-year-old Indian man has been charged by a court here after he allegedly made online and telephonic threats and verbally abused his former boss, an Uzbek businesswoman.

    Dubai Court Charges Indian Man For Abusing Ex-Female Employer

    Celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain Dead In Apparent Suicide At 61

    Celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain Dead In Apparent Suicide At 61
    For his various culinary programs, Anthony Bourdain visited various parts of Rajasthan and Punjab to taste their unique foods. He also travelled to Kerala and the Himalayas. Check out the videos here.

    Celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain Dead In Apparent Suicide At 61

    Kerala Farmer In The UAE Gets Into Guinness Book Of World Records

    Kerala Farmer In The UAE Gets Into Guinness Book Of World Records
    An Indian farmer in the UAE has set a Guinness World Record by distributing the largest number of curry tree saplings in Sharjah, according to a media report on Thursday.

    Kerala Farmer In The UAE Gets Into Guinness Book Of World Records

    Gurdwara, Mosque In UK Set On Fire In Arson Attacks

    Gurdwara, Mosque In UK Set On Fire In Arson Attacks
    A popular gurdwara and a mosque were set on fire in arson attacks at the same time in English city of Leeds with the police treating them as hate crimes, according to media report on Wednesday.

    Gurdwara, Mosque In UK Set On Fire In Arson Attacks

    Muslim Groups To Boycott Donald Trump's Iftar Party

    The White House said there will be roughly 30 to 40 different attendees at Donald Trump's dinner.

    Muslim Groups To Boycott Donald Trump's Iftar Party