Navy deploys aircraft to scan ocean for survivors after Chinese vessel sinks
The Indian Navy deployed its P-8I long-range maritime surveillance aircraft to the southern Indian Ocean to scan the remote waters for survivors after a Chinese fishing vessel with 39 people on board sank on Tuesday. The aircraft also dropped search and rescue (SAR) kits in the area at the request of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), Indian Navy officials aware of the matter said.
The Indian Navy also guided Chinese warships to the area where the vessel sank, the officials said.
The US-origin P-8I, inducted into the Indian Navy a decade ago, carried out sorties over the SAR zone on Wednesday and Thursday after the vessel, Lu Peng Yuan Yu 028, capsized in the stormy seas south of the Maldives, said one of the officials cited above, who asked not to be named.
