THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 15, 1996 TAG: 9601150067
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: MANAMA, BAHRAIN LENGTH: Short : 34 lines
Two aircraft from the Nimitz helped rescue seven seamen who survived for 20 days adrift in the Arabian Sea without food, the U.S. Navy said Sunday.
A statement from the Bahrain-based U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said the men were ``reported to be in good health.''
Their nationalities were not known. But the Navy said their 35-foot sailboat Navjevan lost its auxiliary engine two days after it sailed Dec. 20 from the western Indian port of Cochin, listed by the Navy as its home port.
An A-6E Intruder flying a routine training mission off the aircraft carrier spotted them Thursday adrift about 250 miles southwest of Bombay and around 660 miles from Cochin.
Several hours later, the Nimitz dispatched an E-2C Hawkeye early warning aircraft to the scene and it succeeded in contacting a motorized vessel, the Pratistha, that agreed to help.
Aircraft from the Nimitz remained overhead until the crew of the disabled boat was rescued. The Pratistha was expected to reach the United Arab Emirates port of Dubai today. ILLUSTRATION: AP Map
KEYWORDS: RESCUE USS NIMITZ U.S. NAVY by CNB