The MT Seagull 9 rescue off Paradip has stabilised a flooding chemical tanker, with the Indian Coast Guard saying on Monday that the threat of the vessel capsizing has been eliminated. The ship was about 37 nautical miles East-South-East of Paradip, Odisha.

The Belize-flagged tanker carries 9,000 tonnes of palm oil, and 23 crew were onboard. The emergency response comes ahead of the National Maritime Search and Rescue exercise scheduled off Paradip on 8 October.

How the MT Seagull 9 rescue unfolded

The tanker sent an urgent distress call at about 0730 hrs on Sunday, the Coast Guard said, after its main engine failed and a ballast tank began flooding rapidly, tilting the ship. ICGS Vishwast was dispatched to the scene straight away. Sea rescue in Indian waters is coordinated by the Coast Guard as the national maritime search and rescue authority, the role its coordination centres also filled in August during the MV Ocean Winner search off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Damage control team goes aboard

A specialist damage control team from ICGS Vishwast boarded the unstable tanker in difficult conditions. Using submersible de-flooding pumps and damage-control equipment, the team arrested the leakage, blanked two damaged seawater pipelines and contained a third fractured line. Search and rescue is among the Coast Guard's core peacetime tasks.

Cargo transfer and de-flooding

The ICGS Vishwast team and the tanker's crew worked together, and cargo transfer and de-flooding went on at the same time.

Those operations stabilised the ship and removed the risk of capsizing, according to the Coast Guard. The MT Seagull 9 rescue then moved to its next stage, with the tanker still needing repairs to the main engine that failed at the outset.

Pollution response and aerial watch

A Pollution Control Vessel and an additional Offshore Patrol Vessel were diverted to the location for pollution response and round-the-clock monitoring of the situation.

A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft flew from Bhubaneswar for real-time aerial surveillance. Dorniers and helicopters are what the force flies today, the same air arm that carried out helicopter rescues in the July Gujarat floods, and a July request for information from the Ministry of Defence sought ten MALE drones to add long-endurance surveillance.

A minor palm-oil sheen was seen near the tanker on Sunday. Follow-up aerial sorties on Monday confirmed it had fully dissipated, and pollution-response protocols remain active.

Tow to the anchorage off Paradip

The tow was a multi-agency effort. Paradip Port Authority tug Dolphin has taken the stabilised MT Seagull 9 under tow towards the anchorage area off Paradip, and main engine repairs are under way with help from the ICGS Vishwast technical team.

ICGS Vishwast remains on scene with the other deployed assets, providing continuous operational support.