Commander Abhilash Tomy rescued by French vessel from southern Indian Ocean

Sail boat

Indian Navy Commander Abhilash Tomy, who was traced by an Indian Navy reconnaissance aircraft, was rescued by French vessel Osiris on September 24, officials have confirmed.

Tomy rescued safely @nsitharaman @pmo @Australian_Navy @DefenceMinIndia @ggr2018official @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/G3z7mlLGu3

— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) September 24, 2018

Indian Navy spokesperson, Captain DK Sharma, told the media, "Tomy has been rescued by a French vessel...good weather helped the rescue efforts...Tomy is conscious and is on his way to recovery."

Commander Tomy will now be picked up by Australian Naval ship HMAS Ballarat, which has left Perth to rescue him. INS Satpura will arrive at Tomy’s current location by September 28, the Navy added.

Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressed her relief at the success of the rescue operation. She tweeted:

A sense of relief to know that naval officer @abhilashtomy is rescued by the French fishing vessel. He's concious and doing okay. The vessel will shift him to a nearby island (I'lle Amsterdam) by evening. INS Satpura will take him to Mauritius for medical attention. @PIB_India

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) September 24, 2018

Commander Tomy's vessel had dismasted on September 21 after it was hit by a storm, with wind speeds reaching 130 kilometre per hour (kmph) and waves rising 14 metres.

The 39-year-old Naval officer, who was participating in the Golden Globe sailing competition, suffered a back injury and his boat was found "rolling excessively" in the southern Indian Ocean, approximately 1,900 nautical miles from Perth, Australia, a Defence spokesperson told the press on September 23.

He was in the third position in the race and had sailed over 10,500 nautical miles in the last 84 days, since the race started on July 1.

With inputs from PTI