NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy’s P8I maritime patrol aircraft located a Chinese fishing vessel that capsized three days ago in the Indian Ocean, officials said.
The position of the boat was “relayed” to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships for further assistance, they said.
The Chinese vessel named ‘Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028’ with 39 crew members overturned on Tuesday in the central part of the Indian Ocean following which navies of a number of countries including India and Australia extended help to locate the vessel.
The Indian Navy deployed its P8I maritime patrol aircraft on Wednesday and Thursday to help in the search and rescue of the vessel.
“Continuing with the search and rescue efforts, Indian Navy’s P8I aircraft undertook an extensive search in the area and located the capsized fishing vessel on May 18,” the Navy said on Friday.
“The position of the capsized boat was relayed to PLA (Navy) warships for further assistance. Subsequently, P8I also sighted the fishing vessel’s liferaft and guided fishing vessel Lu Peng Yuan Yu 017 towards it,” it said.
On Thursday, the Navy said it deployed its air maritime reconnaissance assets in the Southern Indian Ocean region approximately 900 nautical miles from India to trace the Chinese vessel.
The crew of the vessel includes nationals from China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
“In a display of India’s obligations as a credible and responsible partner for ensuring safety at sea, the Indian Navy units also coordinated search and rescue efforts with other units in the area and guided the PLA (Navy) warships transiting to the scene of the incident,” the Indian Navy said.