Indian Coast Guard evacuates injured Syrian crew from Cargo ship

In a mid-sea medical emergency evacuation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) rescued an injured crew member from aboard the Belize-flagged cargo vessel MV Haje Nafela that was sailing off India's southeast coast. The 20-year-old Syrian crew member Adbulkader Yahya had sustained a severe head injury while working at the ship's deck, following which he suffered intermittent memory loss and severe contusion on the right eye.

According to the Indian Coast Guard, the cargo vessel, which was sailing from Male, Maldives to Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, India, had made a medical emergency information at 11am Indian time on Tuesday, 16th September. The vessel was about 200 nautical miles (370 km) off Chennai when the medical evacuation call was made to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre(MRCC), Chennai. Given the proximity to Chennai, the cargo vessel was instructed to proceed towards the southeastern Indian port city, while the ICG's Medical officer provided telemedicine support to stabilize the patient.

Meanwhile, the ICG high-speed interceptor boat C-440 with an onboard medical team was deployed to undertake medical evacuation at sea, and the ICG ship Annie Besant was also diverted for assistance. The cargo ship transferred the patient to C-440, while they were 60 nautical miles (111 km) away from Chennai, following which the patient was provided first aid and brought ashore by 2:15pm IST, and later handed over for further treatment. The patient is reported to be stable.