Search on for two persons after ship rams fishing boat off Kerala coast; nine rescued

Kochi, Mar 8 (PTI) The coast guard was searching for two crew members of a fishing boat after a ship rammed their vessel off the Kollam coast, officials said on Sunday.

Nine other members of the crew were rescued, they added.

Even though the Coast Guard on Sunday evening claimed that two bodies were recovered and will be brought to Vizhinjam, they later issued a corrigendum that the missing persons have not been traced and the search is still on.

The fishing boat, St Joseph, had 11 crew members, all from other states, and was engaged in deep-sea fishing. The vessel had left Shakthikulangara harbour in Kollam on Friday.

According to Coastal Police, the accident occurred on Saturday when the boat was anchored for fishing, and the ship, MT Solis, rammed into it about 120 nautical miles off the coast.

The impact caused severe damage to the boat, and it sank soon, an official said.

Nine crew members of the boat were rescued immediately by the ship involved in the accident and later transferred to the Indian Coast Guard Ship Anagh.

A search operation by the coast guard and fishermen in other fishing boats is on for the missing persons, officials said.

A government press release said that in a well-coordinated operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) Ship Anagh evacuated the nine fishermen from MT Solis at sea, about 80 nautical miles from Vizhinjam, and brought them safely to Vizhinjam on Sunday.

The ICG’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai, received an alert at about 1.45 pm on March 7 about a sunk Indian fishing boat off Kanyakumari and immediately dispatched Coast Guard Ship Anagh from Vizhinjam, the statement said.

“On arrival, the nine rescued fishermen were taken onboard and administered first aid. They were brought to Vizhinjam harbour on Sunday and shifted to the Medical College in Thiruvananthapuram for further treatment,” the statement said.

The ICG said it was alleged that the sinking of the fishing boat was caused by a collision with MT Solis. The Directorate General of Shipping has ordered an investigation into the incident. The ill-fated boat was owned by one Rajesh Mathew, police said.

The merchant vessel is Panama-registered and was travelling from Oman to Colombo. After recording the statements of the rescued crew members, a case will be registered, officials added. PTI TBA TBA ADB