Indian Coast Guard personnel rescued eight sailors about five nautical miles off-shore from New Mangalore Port here on Saturday. One among them has been hospitalised.

Madhusudan Paul (55), one of the crew of the vessel Abdul Kalam Azad had fell into the sea accidentally around 7 am, when he was fixing a pilot ladder.

Immediately, seven sailors rushed to his rescue using a life boat. “Though they succeeded in rescuing Mr Paul, they were caught in the turbulent waves and found it difficult to get back into the ship.

As per the message sent from the ship, Coast Guard Ship Kasturba Gandhi rushed to their help and rescued the sailors,” informed Coast Guard Commander Manoj V Baadkar.

The rescued crew have been identified as Vikrant Vikram (chief officer), A C Dalal (third engineer), Quamarul Haq, Siraj Ahmed, Anil Ghosh and A A Bagarkar. The ship Abdul Kalam Azad was carrying crude oil from Mumbai to Mangalore.