A fishing vessel – Durgamma – was adrift after its engine failed and was spotted off the coast in Gopalpur, Orissa.

Through wave heights of more than 25 feet, winds of more than 60 knots and heavy rain, the Sampurna Swarajya vessel, which Menon was in charge of, spotted the boat and jumped into action. She immediately ordered a rescue operation, utilising a pilot ladder, life jackets and buoys on standby.

It took three arduous attempts before all seven weak and starving fishermen, aged from 15 to 50 years old, were brought to safety on board the ship.

Rescued fisherman Dasari Danayya, speaking in his home town of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, said that without Captain Menon, they would not be alive.

“We could do nothing except wipe the tears from our eyes. Madam appeared as a Goddess, and saved our lives,” he told The Shipping Corporation of India, in a video broadcast during the ceremony.