Eleven fishermen rescued from Kerala Coast as Boat Sinks

25 September 2013

Eleven fishermen from Kanyakumari approached the district administration on Monday for help after they lost their boat and fishing gear off the Kerala coast recently. They were rescued by Panama-registered oil tanker Aquarius Wing on September 13 after their boat Arputha Matha developed a leak and sank.

The fishermen, from Chinnathurai, Vallavilai and Marthandanthurai in Kanyakumari, had set out to sea from Kochi on September 10. Around 8.30pm on September 13, when they were 60 nautical miles away, they noticed a leak. They sent out a distress call through wireless and abandoned the sinking boat. The tanker Aquarius Wing, which had crossed the fishing vessel, picked up the distress call and returned to save them.

S Sygin, one of the fishermen, said it was a miracle that the tanker returned. “When we jumped into the water, there were no boat in sight. But the ship returned. Else, all of us would not have been alive today,” he said.

The tanker crew, most of them Japanese, brought the fishermen to the coast and alerted the Coast Guard at Kochi. “The ship could not come near the shore because of its size and lack of permit. We were airlifted by a Coast Guard helicopter,” Sygin revealed. The rescued fishermen later filed a complaint with the Kochi police.

Having lost the boat and fishing gear worth Rs 60 lakh, Cyrus and his crew on Monday submitted a petition to the Kanyakumari collector seeking assistance. “The boat was the only source of our livelihood,” said one fishermen. “Without financial support, the fishermen may fall prey to private money-lenders. Government aid will help them and their families,” said P Justin Antony of Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust.

Source– http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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