Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Rough sea claims fisherman’s life, one goes missing

Thiruvananthapuram: One fisherman was killed and at least one was reported missing when a fleet of fishing boats which set sail from Vizhinjam harbour on Sunday afternoon ran into a squall at sea early on Monday.

The district administration identified the dead person as Joosa Dassayan, a regularly seagoing fisherman hailing from a coastal hamlet near Vizhinjam. It said it was yet to establish the identity of the missing person. Around 15 fishing boats, all of them made of fibreglass and fitted with outboard engines, set out from Vizhinjam harbour at 4.30 p.m. There were four persons on board each boat. Officials said the squall broke the small fleet’s formation and the fishermen lost their bearings.

Two boats, including the one on which Dassayan was on board, were shattered by strong waves near the coast. The fishermen, except Dassayan and the missing person, swam to the safety of the beach. The Coast Guard later retrieved Dassayan’s body from the sea. The district administration said the rest of the fishing boats returned to the harbour on Monday afternoon.

However, sources among the fishermen community put the number of missing boats at 50. The authorities said they were verifying the claim that more fishing boats were missing. The administration said the meteorological department had predicted heavy rains on Sunday night and Monday morning. But the department had not sent a storm warning to the District Collectorate.

Collector Sanjay Kaul alerted the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Marine Enforcement Wing of the State police. The Coast Guard’s Dornier aircraft flew several reconnaissance missions over the seaboard where the fishermen were reported missing. A Navy helicopter also took part in the search and rescue mission, which was still continuing. The Coast Guard has rushed one of its bigger vessels from Kochi to Vizhinjam.

The Collector has released an initial amount of Rs.5,000 as relief to the deceased fisherman’s family. He has sent a report to the government detailing the damage to fishing equipment caused by the squall. Mr. Kaul and Sub Collector K. Biju were at Vizhinjam harbour for the better part of the day on Monday.

Staff Reporter writes from Kozhikode: Two fishermen who went missing in the sea off the Beypore shore on Sunday were rescued by a Fisheries Department rescue team on Monday. Joy and Jerry of Thiruvananthapuram who were lost at sea after the mechanised fishing boat they were on developed a snag, were brought to the shore safely.

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