Coast Guard begins search for fishermen

August 28, 2014 08:26 am | Updated 08:26 am IST - MANDAPAM:

Fishermen with family members stage a road roko at Pamban on Wednesday. Photo: L. Balachandar

Fishermen with family members stage a road roko at Pamban on Wednesday. Photo: L. Balachandar

Local fishermen have rescued one of the four fishermen who went missing on Monday night after their boat sunk on the high seas, even as Indian Coast Guard launched an aerial search to locate the three others on Wednesday.

On a day of high drama, Pamban fishermen and the families of the four fishermen staged a road blockade at Pamban in the morning, condemning the delay on the part of the authorities in launching a search.

A couple of hours after the fishermen started the agitation, bringing the traffic on the Ramanathapuram-Rameswaram National Highway to a grinding halt, two Coast Guard Dornier aircraft from Chennai flew down and began the search. The Coast Guard also deployed its hovercraft and an interceptor boat, but could not locate the fishermen.

Sources in the Coast Guard’s Mandapam station said the Dornier aircraft made low-flying, long-duration sorties, one from 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and another from 2 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. The search would continue on Thursday.

Even as the search was on, the Sri Lankan Navy informed the Coast Guard that the three fishermen were rescued near Katchatheevu and they would be handed over near the International Maritime Boundary Line. However, the Coast Guard was later told that the rescued fishermen were not the missing ones, and they hailed from Mullaithivu. Till Wednesday evening, the Coast Guard had no information on the missing fishermen, the sources said.

Alleging that the Coast Guard and government officials were not helpful, Pamban panchayat president M. Patrick said local fishermen who had launched a search in two country boats on Tuesday rescued John Kennedy, owner of the boat that sunk on the high seas. He was found swimming near Poongoditivu in the Sri Lankan waters with the help of a wooden plank.

Kennedy, who was brought to the shore on Wednesday evening, said that after their mechanised boat sunk, all the four fishermen jumped into the sea and started swimming. He clung to a wooden plank, while his son Daniel and others started swimming with the help of diesel canes. All of them drifted towards the Sri Lankan waters.

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