A deep-sea fishing vessel from Kanyakumari, fishing 50 nautical miles off Kochi, suffered severe hull damage after a merchant ship collided with her. The fishermen, who managed to survive the collision, brought the crippled fishing boat to the shore and demanded compensation from the shipping company.
The fishing boat Immanuel, owned by Anthony Pitchai from Neerodi fishing village in Kanyakumari district, sailed on a fishing expedition from Kollam with an eight-member crew on Jan 2. While they were fishing around 2 am on Thursday, a merchant vessel rammed their boat and sailed away without stopping.
They cast the gill net and deployed a sea anchor. “We worked till 1 am that night and slept off with our headlights and signal lights on. Around 2 am, we heard a loud noise and woke up, and the huge merchant vessel was hovering above us. We could not do anything but jump into the sea to save our lives,” said F Anish, master of the vessel.
After the merchant ship moved away, they swam back to the boat and found that she sustained a severe hull fracture and started taking water. They started sending SOS signals to fishing boats in the vicinity. Some boats came to their rescue. They transported all the valuable items to them and towed their crippled boat to shore.
They arrived in Mattancherry in Kochi with their crippled boat and filed a complaint with the local marine police station. “We managed to bring the boat to the shore, but the damage is very severe,” said Anish.
Secretary of the Kumari Mavatta Visaipadu Meenpidipor Nalasangam (Kanyakumari District Mechanized Boat Fishermen Welfare Association) Johnson Charles said that they suspect the Panama-flagged vessel MV V Noble, a bulk carrier, was involved in the collision. “With the coordinates, the crew members gave, we suspect that this particular ship was involved in the collision. The ship is headed to Karachi port. We urge the Indian Coast Guard to detain the ship for investigation before it leaves Indian waters,” said Charles.
The fishing boat is made of fiber and would be rendered useless after such a collision. “The fishermen have docked it at a boatyard in Mattancheri. Else it would sink in the fishing harbour,” he added.