Eleven fishermen from Thaengaaipattinam, who were rescued by the Coast Guard after going missing in the high-seas on April 28, returned home on Saturday afternoon.
As the Coast Guard ship escorted Mercedes boat with the 11 fishermen to the Thaengaaipattinam fishing harbour, a group of people ventured into the sea along with officials, including fisheries inspector Sivakumar, his deputy Kani Selvan and marine police inspector Arul Rose to receive them at 4 nautical miles from the harbour.
The fishermen were accorded an emotional reception by their family members while Congress MLA Rajesh Kumar and Congress candidate for Kanniyakumari Lok Sabha by-poll V. Vijay Vasanth felicitated them. After being taken to Vallavilai in a bus, the fishermen, along with their family and the villagers, participated in a Thanksgiving Holy Mass at St. Mary’s Church.
The 11 fishermen went missing when another boat rammed their mechanised boat 600 nautical miles off the Goa coast on April 23. While the wheelhouse was tossed up into the sea, the fishermen were thrown into the sea. They managed to board the boat again.
The crew of another mechanized boat Periyanayagi also from Vallavilai, saw the capsized wheelhouse of Mercedes and inferred that the boat had sunk after the mishap and informed their families over the satellite phone about it. After the district administration got the message from the family members, the Centre was alerted which launched a search operation.
Meanwhile, S. Joseph Franklin, owner of Mercedes, and who steered the boat contacted his family on April 28 morning via the satellite phone to inform them that all of them were safe.
On information from the State government, the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC) of the Coast Guard in Mumbai activated international safety net to alert merchant vessels transiting near the reported position.
Alert sounded
Simultaneously, Samudra Prahari of the Coast Guard was diverted for search. MRCC (Mumbai) coordinated with merchant vessel Maersk Horsburgh to join the search operation along with fishing boats operating in the area.
As the reported position was located in Pakistan Search and Rescue Region, MRCC Karachi was requested for assistance as per International Marine Organisation (IMO) norms in vogue.
Also having received information about the location of the boat, Coast Guard ship Vikram located the boat on April 29, around 25 nautical miles from Suheli Par, Lakshadweep Islands.
It provided first aid to the crew of Mercedes and confirmed the safety of all the crew. Vikram escorted the fishing boat to its base port at Thengapattanam fishing harbour.
“We thank the Union government for the swift measures taken to locate the missing fishermen,” said Sunil Sabariar of Vallavilai.
