Four country boat fishermen who had set out for fishing in a fibreglass boat from Pamban on June 4 and were supposed to return back, the next day, have gone missing. A search operation has been launched by fellow fishermen, Mandapam station of Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and INS Parundu, the Indian Naval Air Station.
Fishermen leaders and officials said the four fishermen - Stephen, 42, who owned the boat and Minon, 41, who were from Pamban and Anthony, 40, and Chindas, 43, who were from Thangachimadam, had set out for fishing around noon on June 4 and did not return till Saturday evening.
The fishermen, who had gone fishing along with about 40 fishermen in seven or eight boats towards the north of Palk Bay, were supposed to come back to the shore on Friday morning but failed to turn up, while others made it. After waiting in vain, country boat fishermen in Pamban launched search operation in three boats on Saturday morning but could not trace the missing fishermen till evening despite sailing for about 40 nautical miles in the sea.
On being alerted, the Mandapam Station of ICG informed the Fast Patrol Vessel stationed near the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) on Friday evening itself and launched its search operation on Saturday morning by deploying two hovercrafts and an interceptor boat, Commandant M Venkatesan, Station Commander, said.
“It’s almost 36 hours since we launched the search operation and we will continue the operation on Sunday too,” he said. The ICG has also alerted the Sri Lankan navy to look for the missing fishermen in a white fibreglass boat, he added.
Deputy Director of Fisheries E. Kathavarayan said on being informed, INS Parundu at Uchipulli launched aerial search for the missing fishermen. After a Chetak helicopter made a sortie on Saturday afternoon, the Naval personnel informed that there was poor visibility due to high speed wind and high ‘surf beats’ in the sea, he added.
The fishermen had set out for fishing despite officials warning both mechanised and country boat fishermen against venturing into the sea in view of gusty wings and rough sea conditions, he said. Heeding to the warning, mechanised boat fishermen from Rameswaram and Pamban had refrained from venturing into the sea for the past five days, he added.