Mangaluru: Navy, Indian Coast Guard intensify search for missing fishing boat from Malpe harbour

MANGALURU: Search for eight fishermen onboard a fishing boat 'Suvarna Thribhuja' that set sail from Malpe harbour on December 13 and reported missing since Sunday has gathered steam. With Ministry of Defence tasking Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard to carry out search and rescue (SAR) for the fishing boat, following a tweet that tagged defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Indian Coast Guard has pressed its assets in the SAR mission.




DIG Surendra Singh Dasila, commander, Coast Guard Karnataka told TOI that search for this missing boat is now the top priority for both Coast Guard and Navy. Coast Guard has already pressed its fast patrol vessels, fixed winged aircraft and even helicopters from its various units in Karnataka and Goa, just as Navy has launched its inshore patrol vessels for the same purpose. “Our search is continuously on since December 23,” Dasila said.




Incidentally, seven other boats that sailed out with ‘Suvarna Thribhuja’ returned to Malpe on December 18 as scheduled. Dasila said Nithyananda, brother of Chandrashekar, owner of the fishing boat informed the Coastal Security Police (CSP) at Malpe about the missing boat on December 23. CSP superintendent of police in turn alerted the IGP, CSP (Maharashtra) and the state police top brass about the same, setting off a coordinated SAR mission.

Dasila said the Dornier and helicopters pressed by Coast Guard have had a clear view of the Sea below and extensive search carried out in the last known position of the boat, some 700-nautical miles from the Goa coast bordering Karnataka has not yielded any result so far. The search could have been effective had the owners informed the authorities – CSP, department of fisheries in general and Coast Guard in particular, much earlier, he averred.

Satish Kunder, president of Malpe Fishermen’s Association has already expressed fears that terrorists might have abducted the fishing boat and its crew since there is neither any trace of the boat, not debris of it found so far.