The Karnataka Coast Guard on Saturday rescued six persons working on a dhow, floating 40 nautical miles southeast of Mangaluru. The dhow had sailed from Old Mangalore Port on March 19 at 2.30 pm, carrying 120 tons of spices, food grains,vegetables, sand and granite, said a statement released by the Coast Guard of Karnataka.

Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, such as fruit, fresh water, or other heavy merchandise, along the coasts of Eastern Arabia, East Africa, Yemen and coastal South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh).

"All six crew (five from Gujarat and one from Mangaluru) are in good health. They are being brought to New Mangalore port and will be handed over to Coastal Police and AD Fisheries for further action," the statement stated.

According to the statement released by the Coast Guard of Karnataka, Coast Guard Doriner 773 whilst on routine MR sortie picked up a distress signal from Marine Shipping Vessel (MSV) Safina - AL-Mirzan.

The initial assessment by the rescue team revealed that a seepage of sea water into the boat's engine room had caused the Dhow to sink 30 nautical miles west of Kasaragod.

The statement added that after thorough search in the area for almost half an hour, the debris and six personnel floating in water in mid-sea could be sighted.

"The C-448 swung into action and reached the site in less than 1 hour and rescued six crew of ill-fated dhow who were in distress due to flooding of their boat's engine room about 40 nautical miles southeast of Mangalore," the statement explained.

The statement explained that the CG Dornier, assessing the sea conditions, had dropped the life raft from mid-air which could be the saviour to rescue the lives of crew who are floating in mid sea, while facing the challenges of wind speed touching 20 Knots and current at 1.5 knots.