MV.MINNATH.

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Ship saved from sinking

The "Minnath" while headed for Maldives with perishables as cargo had a lucky escape early on Feb 5, 2015, after Coastal Police and local divers managed to plug two leaks and prevented the ship from sinking. The vessel which makes weekly trips to Maldives with perishables, mostly fruits and vegetables, had set sail from Vizhinjam around 6 p.m. on Feb 4. The crew of 11, one a Maldivianand the others from Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, noticed water entering the engine room through two cracks around midnight. The ship had sailed around 30 nautical miles then. They immediately turned the ship around and were on the way back when the engine stalled around 1.30 a.m., about eight nautical miles off the Vizhinjam coast. The crew alerted the owners of the Finesse Shipping Lines Private Limited, who in turn alerted the Coastal Police, the Coast Guard and others. With water beginning to seep into the engine room, the hull of the ship had begun to slowly sink. A Coastal Police Sub Inspector reached the spot by 2.30 a.m. with two local divers. The divers managed to plug the leaks, around 30 feet under water, within a couple of hours. The crew had thrown a few loads of bananas and watermelons into the seato prevent further sinking. There were 196 tonnes of perishables on board. A tug from Kollam or Kanyakumari was to bring the ship to the Vizhinjam harbour in the evening. Report with photo: http://english.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/rescue-at-sea-how-m-v-minnath-was-saved.html