Sri Lankan vessel helps stranded yacht off Mauritius coast
View(s):MV Ceylon Princess, a new bulk carrier owned by Ceylon Shipping Corporation (CSC), was involved in a rescue effort on Monday after a yacht and its two crew were stranded off the Mauritius coast. CSC said the incident occurred on September 12 while its ship was en route to South Africa to collect a coal consignment for the Norochcholai coal power plant in Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka. The vessel had left Singapore on September 2 and two days later, northeast of Mauritius heard a distress signal ‘Mayday, Mayday’ coming from a yacht named ‘Rebecca’ which was also communicating with the Mauritius coastguard. In normal circumstances, a vessel in distress is rescued by the coastguard if contact has been made but in this case the coastguard requested the Sri Lankan vessel to proceed towards the troubled yacht. On reaching the yacht, it was learnt that the power and back-up system has been faulty but the two crew members were safe. The MV Ceylon Princess waited till the coastguard arrived and thereafter proceeded on its journey.