On 26 Nov 18, at about 2304 hrs ICGS Ameya, received an VHF distress call from mechanised fishing boat Lavanya (Reg No. TN-11-MFB-278) with 05 crew onboard reporting heavy ingress of sea water, whilst in position 20 n miles North-East of Tondi. ICGS Ameya located the distressed fishing boat at 2321 hrs and immediately dispatched its Technical team with submersible pump and Damage Control items to arrest the flooding.On assessing the situation onboard the fast sinking boat, four crew of the fishing boat were evacuated onboard. However, despite efforts, MFB Lavanya could not be salvaged due heavy water ingress and the boat sank at about 2340 hrs. All the rescued fishermen were later handed over off Mandapam to Fisheries officials at 0655 hrs on 28 Nov 18.

Indian Coast Guard has saved more than 9000 lives till its inception. Distress Alert Transmitter, EPIRB are some of the handy communication tools which generate alerts along with GPS location and help the coast guards trace the people in distress while fishing or traveling in sea.