Bhuj, 13 May 2013

A life-boat found on the coast of border district of Kutch in Gujarat yesterday afternoon was actually a part of a abandoned bulk carrier that caught in fire off the coast of Oman on March 30th this year.

The boat was found on coastal side of Bambhdai village of Mandvi taluka in Kutch. Deputy Sarpanch of village Umar Osman Sandhar informed Gadhshisha police station about it. 15 ft long and 8 ft wide orange color life boat had ‘Atlantic Confidence’ tag over it. The boat in marsh had to be pulled out by using JCB machine for investigation.

The police authority searched google and found that Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Liberian-flagged bulk carrier was caught in fire off the coast of Oman on March 30, and the Captain of the ship had ordered his crew to abandon ship in life rafts after determining the fire was out of control.

According to the NATO report, upon receiving the call, the nearby USS Nicholas – a U.S. warship conducting counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean with the NATO Task Force – was ordered to provide assistance and dispatched a helicopter to locate the vessel about 80 miles away. Upon reaching the scene, the helicopter crew saw that the Atlantic Confidence was already partially sunk but that the survivors were safely in the life rafts.

After verifying that none of the crew members were in need of immediate medical assistance, the USS Nicholas coordinated the rescue with the oil tanker M/T Pluto, which was transiting in the area and also entirely manned by a Turkish crew.

The Atlantic Confidence was part of Atlantic Shipping and Trading’s fleet.