Cyclone Ockhi: 71 from Tamil Nadu among 357 fishers rescued

Chennai: The Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and Indian Air Force (IAF) have rescued 357 fishermen including 71 from Tamil Nadu who were stranded due to cyclone Ockhi and 20 of their ships, 8 aircrafts and 5 helicopters are patrolling the Lakshadweep sea to search and rescue fishermen.

Of those rescued at sea, a maximum of 248 fishermen were from Kerala while 38 were from Lakshadweep Island.

According to sources, about 23 fishing vessels registered in Tamil Nadu took shelter at Miryabandar (Maharashtra) to avoid getting caught in the cyclone Ockhi.

The ICG personnel reached out to those fishermen for assistance. They rescued 19 rescued fishermen from the high seas off the Colachel coast in Kanyakumari besides salvaging their vessel and brought them to safety in the harbour.

In addition, the ICG aircraft which sighted 15 fishermen on two vessels in distress off Colachel ensured the fishermen returned safely to the shore on December 2. All the fishermen are safe.

“An update on the search and rescue efforts being done by the Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force to save the lives of fishermen affected by #CycloneOckhi: 357 fishermen have been saved as of 10 am today”, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman who visited the cyclone-hit Kanyakumari district on Sunday evening, tweeted.

The Defence Minister who visited the coastal district in the State along with Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, took stock of the situation and interacted with the people.

She is scheduled to visit Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. Senior Ministers and officers of the Indian Navy and ICG were present on the occasion.

The Indian Coast Guard alone has deployed 10 ships, 3 aircraft and a helicopter at sea for the coordinated search and rescue operation in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep islands while the Navy has deployed ten ships besides, four aircraft and four helicopters and the Air Force has deployed an aircraft and two helicopters.