Mumbai, Jun 17 (IANS): In a daredevil operation, the Indian Coast Guard on Thursday rescued 16 crew members of a sinking cargo ship near the Revdanda jetty off Maharashtra's Raigad district, an ICG spokesperson said here.

The incident happened in the early hours when Indian-flagged M.V. Mangalam's second officer intimated that the ship, with 16 on board, had partially sunk around 3 kms off the Revdanda jetty in the stormy Arabian Sea.

In view of the distress and with water ingress panicking the crew, the ship captain was even planning to abandon the vessel, the ICG was told.

Gauging the seriousness of the situation, the ICG's MRCC team calmed down the alarmed captain and crew and asked them to remain on board as help was being deployed.

ICG Subhadra Kumari Chauhan immediately set sail from Dighi Port towards the sinking vessel, while two ICG helicopters took from Daman for the evacuation operation.

The ship reached the vicinity of M.V. Mangalam by 10.15 a.m. as challenging weather conditions prevailed, but it sent rescue boats to pick up the crew.

Around that time, the two helicopters also arrived and started winching up the crew of vessel, saving all 16, and flew them to Revdanda for medical aid, said the ICG spokesperson.