By Sulagna Halder
Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on 11 July 2025 confirmed that it had successfully saved two citizens of the US stranded on a yacht in the vicinity of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the US boat encountered some mechanical fault.
A statement released by the ICG said that the Sea Angel, an American owner and flagged sail boat, had been sighted some 53 nautical miles south of Indira Point earlier on 10 July. The two on the board a US citizen and a Turkish national had fancied a distress call through the US Consulate in Chennai in face of rough sea conditions and the propulsion failure.
As a prompt reaction, ICG launched Ship Rajveer which then sailed through dangerous waves to find the yacht. ICG said that the rescuers arrived at the boat when the sail was blown away and the propeller was caught in ropes. Both those in need of rescue were said to be in good health as the rescue took place.
The Sea Angel thereupon was taken under tow and in the morning of 11 July was safely landed in the harbour of Campbell Bay. A Defence Ministry communiqu added that this operation was well coordinated by the ICG with the help of Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Port Blair which also alerted the merchant vessels nearby to join in case of need.
It comes barely a month after another international maritime rescue exercise by the ICG under which three Sri Lankans stranded in a sand bar off shores of Tamil Nadu were rescued and handed over to the local authorities.
It is worth noting that the Indian Coast Guard organisation has even in a worst case scenario rescued the Sea Angel and to think that it was a challenging environment in the Indian Ocean area underlines the increased efficiency and role of the Indian Coast Guard in emergency responses. Over the past few years, the ICG and Indian Navy have assumed a greater responsibility as first responders in times of occurrence of an incident of a foreign vessel.
These US nationals, whose identity and sailing route remained unknown, allegedly raised a distress call in the wee hours of 10 July, which is during the monsoons season. The mechanical problem on the yacht made it immobile and this was a huge risk with deteriorating weather conditions.
After being towed to Campbell bay, the persons were examined medically to see whether they were healthy. The yacht is locked in the dock awaiting technical examination and repair.
The ICG reiterated that it still upholds the so called rescue coordination protocols and patrolling in the region to follow up with distressed vessels. One of the officials of the Ministry of Defence made the comment, saying that this shows that India extends its hand of security in the seas and being responsible towards foreign vessels that might experience trouble in the waters of this region.
The rescue has earned rave reviews among maritime experts as a major demonstration that India can pull off timely and successful search and rescue operations in far flung waters. It is also a lesson to all seafarers to be calm and highly prepared before untoward incidents happen at sea.
