Fishermen escape after net gets tangled with cargo vessel

Thiruvananthapuram: Two fishermen, who set out for fishing from Veli in a motorized boat, had a close shave when their net got tangled in a cargo vessel that passed by and they were forced to tag along for some distance. Jerry (53) and Aloysius (54) from Veli and Vettucaud respectively are the fishermen, who went through the ordeal.
The incident happened on Thursday evening around 7pm, 33km off Valiya Veli coast. The men had left around 4pm. After reaching their spot, they cast their net and dozed off. They woke up sensing the boat’s unusual rocking movement and found themselves being dragged by a ship. They found it hard to maintain balance and sustained minor injuries crashing on to the boat’s side. They screamed and tried to raise an alarm and after a while people on the ship noticed them and cut them free.
Vizhinjam coastal police said that the incident came to light on Friday morning when the duo returned ashore. They went to the general hospital and took first aid.
Vizhinjam SI E Shanibas said as per the GPS of the fishermen, the incident happened in international shipping channel. The vessel involved in the incident was going from Kollam to Kanyakumari. “No case was registered as there was no collision. The fishermen as well as the boat are unharmed,” he said, adding that fishermen on small boats are not allowed to go beyond 12 nautical miles (22km) off the coast. But, many venture into international waters as catch is less in areas close to the shore.
T Peter, general secretary of National Fish Workers Forum, said there was mistake on both sides. Vessels often move close to the shore in order to stay within mobile phone network coverage. But, this puts the lives of fishermen at risk. “Fishermen who use small boats have to be careful. They must install metal rods on their boats so that radars of the ships will detect them and know their presence,” he said.