PANAJI: Fourteen persons out of the 22-member crew of a merchant navy vessel have been rescued after the ship dashed against rocks off Karwar coast in Karnataka early on Tuesday morning, Coast Guard officials said here.
"M V Ocean Saraya," a Singapore-registered Panama flagship hit the rocks due to rough sea conditions, they said, adding that rescue operations have been intensified as the condition of the 230m long ship had deteriorated.
"The ship is reported to be in danger. We hope nothing happens to the vessel," Deputy Inspector General of Coast Guard, Commandant R M Sharma told PTI adding that all the ship's crew members are Indian nationals.
"The ship's second officer, Azi Juvale, who is second-in-command after the captain, is missing as he jumped overboard after the ship hit the rocks. Search operations to locate him are on," he said.
Officials said rescue operations were stopped for a brief period due to bad weather and refuelling of the Chetak helicopter engaged in the operations.
Till now, 14 crew members including the captain's wife, the only woman on board, were rescued and have disembarked at Karwar port, they added.
