Kochi: Fishing vessel sinks, none hurt
Six fishermen on board were rescued.
Kochi: The movement of ships in and out of the Kochi Port was disrupted for a major part of the day on Tuesday after a fishing vessel sank in the shipping channel between Vypeen and Fort Kochi. ‘Neethiman’, the steel boat, sank at 8.45 am while being towed to the shore unauthorizedly by another boat after it developed technical glitch. However, all the six fishermen on board were rescued by the Marine Enforce Department. According to officials, the boat, which had left the Thoppumpady Harbour at 6 am after loading ice from Murikkumpadam, developed a technical glitch around 45 minutes later.
“The engine trouble developed when it reached five nautical miles off the coast near the third buoy. On an alert, two other fishing vessels in the vicinity rescued four of the fishermen on board and the vessel was towed away by one of them,” said a senior Marine Enforcement official. Two others were later rescued by the Marine Enforcement team which rushed to the spot. The vessel, however, sank when it reached the shipping channel between Fort Kochi and Vypeen.
“The affected fishing vessel was being towed into the harbor unauthorisedly violating the ISPS code by another fishing boat through the shipping channel. A case has been filed with the Harbour Police station against the fishing vessel. No environmental hazard was noticed following the incident,” a statement of the Cochin Port Trust said. The Port Control room, upon an alert, deployed its vessels and located the sunken vessel a few meters south of the shipping channel. The Navy’s help was sought to take out the wreck. The rescued fishermen were identified as Madhu (39), Faisal (42), Pradeep (37), all natives of Ambalappuzha, Animon (35) and Nibu (40) of Kakkayam and Saleem (38) of Thrikkunnappuzha.