A motorised traditional boat with six fishermen was hit by a cargo vessel in the international shipping channel about 39 nautical miles off the Kollam coast at around 12.30 pm on Saturday. State Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma said all the six fishermen on the boat, engaged in hook-and-line fishing, were rescued by fishermen from other boats.
The condition of one of fishermen was said to be serious. Efforts were on to find the vessel which sailed away after hitting the fishing boat, Arogya Annai, which was totally destroyed in the collision. The Minister said the ship would be taken into custody.
Commander Sridhar Warrier, PRO at the Southern Naval Command headquarters in Kochi, said that the Navy had deployed a Dornier aircraft and an advanced light helicopter in the area of accident. He told the media that the aircraft’s radar system had spotted three vessels in the region and that the ship responsible for the accident had to be identified before initiating any action.
The Minister said the Government had contacted the Navy immediately after receiving information about the accident. This was the second incident of ship-boat collision off the Kerala coast in less than three months. Two fishermen were killed and another had gone missing after a Panamanian vessel hit a fishing boast about 14 nautical miles off the Kochi coast on June 11. According to sources at the Neendakara fishing harbour in Kollam, the boat with six anglers had left for fishing from there on Saturday morning and that five fishermen hailed from Colachel, Tamil Nadu and one from Kollam. They said the information on the accident was passed on to the Kollam coast using the communication system used by fishermen.
“The Marine Enforcement and Coastal Police are not equipped for search and rescue operations at such a distance. Therefore we sought the Navy’s help immediately. Information is that the fishermen were rescued by others in the area even before the Navy had started its operations,” said Mercykutty Amma.
Unconfirmed reports said that the fishermen in the mechanized boat in the area had written down the name of the ship and informed the Coast Guard but the Coastal Police were of the opinion that there was some confusion regarding this. The six fishermen were expected to be brought to Neendakara harbour by late Saturday night.