New Delhi: Indian Navy’s P-8I aircraft has managed to locate a Chinese capsized fishing vessel in the southern Indian Ocean Friday, three days after it went missing.
Indian Navy officers said the position of the capsized vessel was relayed to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warships for further assistance.
Subsequently, the P-8I also sighted the fishing vessel’s life raft and guided another fishing vessel, Lupeng Yuanyu 017, towards it.
The Navy added that the life raft was picked up by the Lupeng Yuanyu 017 which had by then reached the spot.
The Indian Navy is on standby to provide any additional assistance to the ongoing search and rescue (SAR) efforts, said officers.
On 17 May, Indian Navy had deployed its maritime reconnaissance assets in the southern Indian Ocean region, approximately 900 nautical miles from Indian shores, to locate the missing Chinese fishing vessel with 39 crew onboard.
The crew includes nationals from China, Indonesia and the Philippines.
The P-8I aircraft carried out multiple and extensive searches Wednesday despite adverse weather and located multiple objects possibly belonging to the sunken vessel.
As an immediate response, SAR equipment was deployed at the scene by the Indian aircraft at the request of PLA (N) ships closing in on the area.
Sources said Indian Navy units also coordinated SAR efforts with other units in the area and guided the PLA (N) warships transiting to the scene of the incident.
Countries such as Australia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, the Maldives and the Philippines have also extended emergency assistance.
Incidentally, India’s P-8I aircraft clocked 40,000 hours under the Indian Naval Air Squadron 312 Wednesday, marking a decade since its first flight in 2013. The squadron, also known as ‘Albatross’, operates out of the Arakkonam suburb of Chennai and the first P-8I aircraft landed at INS Rajali, the naval air station located near Arakkonam, on 15 May, 2013.
The P-8I is equipped for long-range anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of broad area, maritime and littoral operations.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)