Indian Navy comes to the rescue of Seychelles Coast Guard crew member seeking medical help

India's indigenously built advanced light helicopter (ALH), operated from the Indian Navy's INS Garuda base in Kochi, successfully completed the medical evacuation of a woman crew member of a Seychelles Coast Guard ship (SCGS), off India's west coast.

The patient, who was brought to INS Garuda Naval Air Base in Kochi, was shifted to INHS Sanjivani by ambulance and is said to be in a stable condition.

On Thursday morning, SCGS Zoroaster vessel was being escorted by INS Sharda during the former's voyage from Kochi at India's West Coast to Victoria, Seychelles.

Around 9.30 am (local time), private Allison Labiche, a crew member onboard the Seychelles' vessel, reported severe abdominal pain and was shifted to INS Sharda by boat, for further medical management and evacuation.

In order to facilitate a medical evacuation, the Indian Navy had prepared the ALH and Seaking 42C helicopters at Kochi.

At 12.33 pm (local time), the ALH chopper with a Naval medical officer on-board took off from the base and headed towards INS Sharda, which was 15km north of Minicoy Islands, off India's West coast.

In a little over four hours, the patient was brought to Kochi for further treatment.

Seychelles Peoples Defence Force Ship Zoroaster was on a goodwill visit to Kochi from April 11.

Zoroaster is a fast attack craft constructed by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders Engineering (GRSE) Kolkata and presented to Seychelles People’s Defence Force in 2021.

The ship is on her return passage to Seychelles after participating in multi-lateral exercise MILAN-22 at Visakhapatnam.

The ship also visited Kochi in January 2022 during her passage to Visakhapatnam. The visit of Zoroaster to Kochi has enhanced the defence cooperation between the two countries.