Owing to prompt information sharing and coordination by the Maritime Security Agency (MSA), 11 crew members of a dhow, Al-Garhoud, were saved and brought back to Karachi.
An announcement to this effect was made by the spokesman of MSA here on Monday.
He said that at about 23.45 hours on Sunday, MSA received information about the distress of a Ghana registered dhow, Al-Garhoud, about 30 nautical miles from Karachi.
The dhow had sailed from Karachi on June 19 and, after reaching about 30 nautical miles in deep sea, developed fault in its engines. Subsequently, heavy flooding took place in the dhow due to heavy weather and high sea state. The spokesman said that MSA, as a rescue co-ordinator, took prompt action and made a distress fax message to relevant authorities.
All ships operating in the vicinity were subsequently informed to render all possible assistance. MBA defender aircraft was also tasked to update the location of the dhow.
The spokesman said that owing to prompt information sharing and coordination by MSA, 11 crew members of the dhow were rescued by a merchant tanker MT Athena at about 10.00 hours on Monday and was brought back to Karachi safely.