Three fishermen missing after boat from TN capsizes in sea

MADURAI: Three fishermen from the Colachel area in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu went missing after a fishing boat capsized in midsea on Thursday night.

The fishing boat -- Suja Mol -- sailed from Colachel fishing harbour on September 25 with 16 fishermen, including six north Indians, onboard.

While they were fishing 38 nautical miles off the Kanyakumari coast, the boat capsized after being caught in a huge tidal wave. According to accounts of fishermen, the fishermen were unloading a rather handsome haul of catch on the trawler when they were hit by the huge wave. The wave hit the astern and filled the deck with water. The boat tilted dangerously at the astern before another massive wave hit the boat.

All the fishermen aboard were thrown into the sea. The fishermen did not have time to reach out to their VHF wireless sets to send out an SOS. Other boats in the vicinity saw Suja Mol taking water and sinking astern down. They rushed to the aid of fishermen. Three boats pulled out 13 fishermen, eight on one boat, four on another and one fisherman -identified as Michael – on yet another boat.

Michael was brought ashore by the trawler -- that sailed from Chinnamuttom harbour -- by Friday evening. He was taken to his house in Colachel, and the family admitted him to a private hospital later.

Meenavar Orunginaippu Sangam Secretary Johnson Charles said the other 12 rescued fishermen were likely to reach Colachel by Friday night.

The Indian Coast Guard was alerted. Coast Guard Ship Atulya based in Tuticorin Coast Guard station was directed to assist in the search operations. The ship reached the accident spot.

“Along with the shop, some 20 trawlers that were in the vicinity are also looking out for three fishermen who went missing,” said Charles.

The fishermen fear that these missing fishermen should have been caught in the net and trapped in the sinking boat. “The boat is lying at the bottom of the sea, at least 50 metre deep. We have requested divers from Tuticorin but they can’t dive beyond 20 metre. We need saturation divers who can dive deeper. We are appealing to the Indian Navy to provide their experts to search for our missing fishers in the wreckage of the boat lying at the bottom of the sea,” added Charles.


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