Four crew members of tugboat Sonika stranded at sea off Mumbai were rescued by the Indian Navy late last night. A Defence spokesperson informed that Mumbai main police control room received a distress call last night that a tugboat named Sonika, with four men on board, had run aground on rocks in the waters off Raj Bhavan during low tide and had begun to flood.
The site is in the vicinity of the general area where the Shivaji Maharaj statue is planned to be built. A police launch from Mahim reached the site, but could not approach the tugboat due to rocks and shallow waters.
Therefore, Indian Navy was approached for assistance and the joint operations centre was also contacted. Around midnight, a naval Sea-king-C helicopter, with divers onboard, was launched from naval air station INS Shikra.
The helicopter rescued all the four stranded men and were sent for medical check-up. The crew is safe and no injury was reported.
