News Desk
MALE’ — The Indian Coast Guard successfully intercepted and salvaged a cargo vessel that began taking on water after developing a hull breach while traveling from Malé to the port city of Tuticorin, India. Maritime safety authorities confirmed that the general cargo ship, identified as the MV Sitta, issued an urgent distress call reporting severe flooding in multiple compartments while navigating the shipping lanes off the coast of Tuticorin.
Upon receiving the emergency alert, the Indian Coast Guard deployed the patrol vessel ICGS Atulya to the scene. A specialized boarding and engineering team was transferred to the distressed ship to initiate emergency stabilization protocols. Working alongside the vessel’s master and a commercial salvage firm, responding personnel deployed heavy-duty dewatering pumps to drain the flooded holds and successfully sealed the breach, arresting the water ingress before the ship could lose buoyancy.
Following the stabilization operations, maritime authorities monitored the structural integrity of the MV Sitta and confirmed that all crew members were safe and uninjured. The vessel, a general cargo ship measuring 57.52 meters (188 feet) in length and 10 meters (33 feet) in width, was subsequently cleared to resume its voyage under close observation and safely dock at the Tuticorin port for formal damage assessments and repairs.
