GWADAR, August 11(ABC): The Pakistan Navy on Wednesday saved nine crew members of an Indian vessel after it drowned in the Arabian Sea near Gwadar, according to the Director-General Public Relations.
“The navy immediately responded to the distress call and the Pakistan Maritime Information Centre requested a nearby merchant ship ‘MT KRUIBEKE’ to provide necessary assistance to the stranded crew of the drowning sailing vessel,” the spokesman said.
“The merchant ship eventually recovered nine crew members and continued voyage to its next port Dubai and onward disembarked the crew.”
Separately, the statement said that one Pakistan Navy ship, along with two helicopters, reached the area and located the dead body of one crew member who had gone missing when the vessel drowned.
His body was recovered and handed over to Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) authorities for further proceedings, it added.
Earlier this year, the Pakistan Navy had intercepted and tracked an Indian submarine.
In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had said that the Indian Navy had deployed its submarine against Pakistan with “ulterior motives”.
“However, yet again through continuous vigilance and professionalism, Pakistan Navy has foiled [the] Indian submarine’s attempt of entering into Pakistani waters,” he had said.
The area of Pakistan’s territorial waters is 12 nautical miles while its seabed territory (EEZ) grew to 290,000 square kilometres in 2015.