Critically ill US national evacuated from Kenya-bound cruise

Responding to an emergency, the Indian Coast Guard's (ICG) Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai (MRCCM), on Thursday, evacuated a 65-year-old American from a Kenya-bound cruise ship as he required urgent medical attention.

- ABHISHEK SHARAN

The American national, James Douglas Shirley, was diagnosed with retinal displacement. He was brought to the shore for treatment at a city hospital, sources said. The cruise, MV World Odyssey, was 230 nautical miles off Mumbai when the MRCCM undertook the evacuation and dispatched the coast guard ship ICG C-439 with a medical team for on-spot aid. A nautical mile is equal to around 1.85km. Mr Shirley was one of 175 passengers onboard Odyssey

A Coast Guard official said, "The patient was safely evacuated and handed over to a vessel agent for further medical management at Global Hospital." He added that his medical condition required immediate hospitalisation for surgery.