TN fishers salvage 9 boats off Sri Lankan coast

Rameswaram: In a significant development that may help ease tensions across the Palk straits for Indian fishermen, a team of fishers from Rameswaram permitted to visit a boat yard in northern Sri Lanka where seized boats of mainly Tamil Nadu fishermen are dumped, have managed to salvage nine of their boats.

This follows the Sri Lankan government’s recent communiqué to the Indian government that a team of fishermen be sent from Tamil Nadu to retrieve one lot of 12 mechanised boats from Rameswaram, seized by the Island-navy for allegedly poaching into their waters while fishing, in what they term is a ‘first phase exercise’ to return the boats.  It is believed that Sri Lankan navy has seized over 200 boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen over the last three years alone. 

Accordingly, a team of 71 fishermen from Rameswaram was put together to make the trip, said Sesuraj, secretary of the Rameswaram Fishermen’s Association. The visiting fishermen from here were thoroughly frisked and checked by various security and related agencies before the Indian Coast Guard accompanied the nine boats carrying them and handed them over to the Sri Lankan authorities at the IMBL on January 17 for being escorted to the boat yard at Karainagar where seized boats are dumped. 

Thanks to the inventive and industrious spirit of the Rameswaram fishermen, Sesuraj said in the last two days, they were able to “salvage” nine of the seized fishing boats by pumping out the sea water from the vessels and setting right to minor repairs. This would help them to bring the boats back home, Sesuraj said, adding, they were expected to return to Rameswaram on January 21. 

FISHERS RETURN TO SEA: Meanwhile, Rameswaram fishermen gave up their four-day-old strike on Saturday and returned to the sea after the body of Muniyasamy, one of the fisherman from Ramanathapuram district who was killed in a mid-sea boat mishap, had been flown from Colombo to Tiruchy.