Fishing boat sinks due to technical snag; crew rescued safely

KANYAKUMARI: A fishing boat that sailed from Muttom fishing harbour in Kanyakumari district sank 50 nautical miles off the Muttom coast on Tuesday morning. The crew, who managed to jump into the sea before the boat sank, were rescued by another fishing boat in the vicinity. The rescued crew landed in Muttom harbour on Wednesday.

The fishing boat Caroline, with a 17-member crew, sailed on Feb 20. While sailing, the fishermen observed that the inlet supplying seawater for cooling the engine was leaking, and the water was gushing in. The crew attempted to fix the inlet while using a generator motor to pump the excess water out.

While they were battling to stop the gushing water into the boat through the inlet hole, the main engine shut down as the coolant water was not reaching the engine. The boat could not be saved since the main engine collapsed, ceasing all other machinery, said the boat owner Patrick Cruz.

With the engine shut down, the crew could not stop the gushing water, and the boat started sinking. The crew managed to alert the other boats in the vicinity through their wireless. A fishing boat Anthoniyar rushed and rescued all 17 members, even as Caroline sank. “Fortunately, all my men returned safely, but I lost the source of livelihood with more than 1.5 tonnes of catch,” said Cruz.


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