4 stranded tugboat crew members rescued by Indian Navy in Mumbai

Four crew members of a tugboat stranded at sea off Mumbai have been rescued by the Indian Navy, an official said on Tuesday.

"The Mumbai main police control room received a distress call last night that tugboat 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," a Defence spokesperson said in Mumbai.

"The site is in the vicinity of the general area where the Shivaji statue is planned to be built," he said. "A police launch from Mahim reached the site by 2115 hours but could not approach the tugboat due to rocks and shallow waters," he said. "The Indian Navy was approached for assistance and the joint operations centre was also contacted by the police," the spokesperson said.

"At about 2320 hrs, a naval Seaking C helicopter, with divers onboard, was launched from naval air station INS Shikra. The helicopter was able to extract all the four stranded men and returned to the base by 2345 hrs," he said.

A medical check up of the rescued men was conducted at the INS Shikra. "The crew is safe and no injury was reported," he added.