Coast Guard rescues 15 fishermen adrift on boat

Kolkata: In what turned out to be a daring operation in bad weather, the

Coast Guard

(CG) rescued 15

fishermen

from Kakdwip in South 24 Parganas from close to the International Maritime Boundary Line with

Bangladesh

on Saturday. All the fishermen and their damaged trawlers were handed over to their association in Kakdwip on Sunday morning.

According to a CG official, any delay in the operation could have landed the trawler with the fishermen in Bangladeshi territorial waters in extremely bad weather.

“On Saturday, we picked up a message from Fishing Boat Krishna Kanaiya reporting loss of power. The message was passed on to Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Vijaya that was patrolling the waters in the northern Bay of Bengal area. Offshore Patrol Vessel ICGS Vijaya received the SOS on Saturday evening and soon homed in on the exact location... DIG Vijay Singh, who is in command of ICGS Vijaya, rushed to the

rescue

immediately,” a senior official from the Coast Guard headquarters for the northeast region in Kolkata said.

After the master of FB Krishna Kanaiya reported that the propellor had got damaged and disconnected, a decision was taken to take the trawler in tow. The fishermen were provided necessary aid. It is during the monsoon that fishermen from this part of the country venture out far from the coast in search of Hilsa.

The crew of FB Krishna Kanaiya said they had drifted nearly 15 nautical miles in a day due to strong winds and swell. Had the trawler crossed the IMBL, it would have been a lengthier process to bring them back.

“The Coast Guard station at Frasersgunj got in touch with the Kakdwip fishing harbour and arranged for two trawlers and necessary equipment. Around 8.30am on Sunday, the 15 fishermen were handed over to their colleagues off Kakdwip. Operations such as these underline the importance of stations at locations like Frasersgunj. Ever since this station was set up, the lives of scores of fishermen could be saved. Maybe, it is time to shift the station to its own land from the rented accommodation from where it is operating now,” the official added.