By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: The Pakistan Navy rescued 19 fishermen, including eight Iranian nationals, after their vessel suffered engine failure roughly 120 nautical miles south of Gwadar and was left drifting in worsening monsoon weather, officials said on Thursday.
The fishing boat, Al Jalali, sent out a distress call after losing power in the North Arabian Sea, where deteriorating conditions during the ongoing monsoon season had left its crew increasingly vulnerable. The 19 men aboard, 11 of them Pakistani and eight Iranian, found themselves stranded far from shore as the weather closed in.
The Joint Maritime Information Coordination Centre, a body that monitors piracy, illegal fishing, marine pollution and search-and-rescue operations across the region, received the distress signal and immediately alerted the navy. PNS Taimur, a Pakistan Navy ship already operating in the area, was dispatched to the scene.
Naval personnel reached the stricken vessel and found its crew in need of urgent assistance. They supplied food, drinking water and medical care to the fishermen before towing the disabled boat back towards the coast, according to a statement issued by the navy’s media wing.
“The rescue operation, coordinated through JMICC, ensured the safety of all 19 crew members, including 11 Pakistanis and 8 Iranians,” the navy said, adding that the operation was carried out “despite adverse monsoon conditions” that had complicated the mission.
The navy described the swift response as evidence of its capacity to act decisively when lives are at risk at sea, noting that the operation “underscores Pakistan Navy’s readiness to safeguard lives at sea and respond swiftly to maritime emergencies.”
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both praised the navy for the rescue. In a statement, President Zardari said the operation demonstrated the navy’s dedication to protecting human life at sea and reflected its broader commitment to both its national duties and international obligations.
The rescue is the latest in a string of maritime emergencies the Pakistan Navy has responded to in recent weeks along the country’s southwestern coastline and the busy shipping lanes that run through the region. Earlier this month, naval forces rescued 20 crew members from a cargo dhow that was sinking off the same stretch of coast after issuing its own distress call in the Arabian Sea.
The operation also comes just a day after authorities launched a search effort following the crash of a K2 Airways cargo aircraft into the Arabian Sea, underscoring the range of emergencies the navy and the country’s maritime authorities have had to contend with in quick succession.
Gwadar, a deep-water port city in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, sits along one of the busiest maritime corridors in the region, making the navy’s search-and-rescue capabilities a critical line of defence for fishermen and sailors who ply these waters, many of them from neighbouring Iran, whose fishing fleets frequently operate in the same stretch of sea.
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