Two crew members aboard an Abu Dhabi-registered floating dock were rescued by the Indian Navy in stormy weather conditions early on Tuesday.
The drama unfolded when the vessel detached from a tug off the coast of Kerala.
Buffeted by winds gusting at 25 knots and torrential rain, a naval helicopter hovered for about 20 minutes above the vessel as two Indonesian crew stranded on board were winched up to safety.
The floating dock Al Fattan enroute from Sabang in Indonesia to Abu Dhabi carried a ship, barge and speedboat. It was being towed by a tug when it drifted and moved toward Thottapally in Alappuzha on Monday in rough monsoon conditions.
Both crew are safe, medically fit and immigration procedures are being completed, Indian officials said.
The Al Fattan company in Abu Dhabi declined to comment.
“We had information about the stranded vessel but no assistance was sought initially because we presumed that the salvage team or agents of the company would be able to handle the issue. But sometime last night the crew requested the coast guard for help,” said Sridhar Warrier, Indian Defence public relations officer based in Kochi.
The Indian Coast Guard were alerted by villagers who saw the dock run aground near an embankment. The vessel could be seen from shore but not reached by divers due to high waves and a rocky sea wall.
Once the coast guard realised rescue from land was not possible, they called the navy for assistance. Rescue was required since the crew were low on food supplies.
“Torrential rain was only one part of the adverse conditions because this was not a normal place where we could land the helicopter," Commander Warrier said about the rescue carried out by the Indian Naval Air Squadron INAS 322.
"There were pylons up to 20 metres on top of the floating dock jutting out from all four sides.
"To make the approach, the pilot had to be steady. You risk the danger of the rotor blades touching the pylons and there would have been a catastrophe at hand,”
The waves pounding over a constantly moving dock was an added obstacle.
“The civilians had to lie down in a stretcher because of the high winds and had to be winched up together because to go back down twice would have been difficult.”
The entire operation was handled by two pilots and a crew member who controlled the winch. The mission took a total of two hours, from leaving their base in Kochi.
Indian Coast Guard said villagers reported that crew members signalled for help from the 105-metre floating dock on Monday.
“The problem was there was no communication on board so my team had to wave and signal via hand movements to understand how many people were on board. There was no choice but to do an aerial operation because no vessel could approach from shore as there was a sea wall,” said KL Arun, coast guard press officer.
The crew have been medically examined, pronounced fit and will soon be handed over to the Al Fattan company, he said.
The floating dock left Indonesia on June 22 for Abu Dhabi and had been waiting off the coast off Kochi since July 13 awaiting logistic support, Indian officials said.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
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Rating: 4/5
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
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Under 12 – Minerva Academy
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The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
