The Hindu : Front Page : He kept himself afloat for 30 hours in choppy waters

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Thursday, Jun 28, 2007
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He kept himself afloat for 30 hours in choppy waters

Staff Reporter

His ship had been caught in the storm near Khandvi

He is rescued by Coast Guard and is now recovering
His family is in the city

VISAKHAPATNAM: It was a miracle of a different kind. For S. Kumar Reddy, Chief Engineer of a merchant vessel, it was an escape from the jaws of death.

He swam for over 30 hours in the cold and turbulent waters of the Arabian Sea after his ship was caught in a cyclonic storm and sank.

Finally, the Coast Guard rescued Mr. Kumar Reddy giving him a fresh lease of life. Navy sources said on Wednesday that Mr. Reddy, whose family is in the city, was recovering in a Mumbai hospital.

“Though he is still under trauma, he has not received any injury,” an official said.

Mr. Reddy’s ship Krishna One owned by Birlas Vikram Ispat was caught in the storm on Saturday at about 3 a.m. near Khandvi while on its way with a consignment of raw material for a steel plant in Rwanda.

All the 14-member crew gave up efforts to save 3,000 tonne raw material after the entry of water as the suction system and the engine had failed. Most of them were rescued from the ship wreckage by helicopters during a night time rescue operation.

Mr. Reddy, who worked earlier in the Navy for 10 years, had a nightmarish experience throughout his ordeal, swimming non-stop without any clothes on him. “It reminded me of Titanic experience when I saw the ship wreckage strewn all around under the impact of ferocious waves,” he was quoted as saying after his rescue.

A Coast Guards team spotted Mr. Reddy on Sunday at about 11 p.m and immediately he was rescued and shifted to St. George Hospital, Fort.

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