Fishing Boat Sinks at Sea off Kundapur; 27 Fishermen Rescued
Kundapur: A purse seine fishing boat that had ventured into the sea from Gangolli Fishing Harbour sank near the Gangolli estuary on Wednesday. All 27 fishermen on board were rescued safely. The incident is estimated to have caused a loss of several crores of rupees.
The purse seine boat Sri Bal Anjaneya, owned by Nagaraj Mogera of Mundalli, Bhatkal, had set out from Gangolli with 27 fishermen on Wednesday afternoon. When the boat was around 2–3 nautical miles from Gangolli Harbour, strong waves hit the vessel, causing seawater to enter it.
Realising the danger, the fishermen alerted other boat operators at Gangolli Harbour. Local fishermen, along with personnel from the Gangolli Coastal Security Police, immediately rushed to the spot in two boats and successfully rescued all 27 fishermen.
The fishing boat was completely submerged, while the fishing nets and other equipment on board were washed away into the sea. Fortunately, no lives were lost. As the sea remained rough and the vessel was partially submerged, efforts to tow the boat back to shore were reportedly unsuccessful.
Of the 27 fishermen, 16 were locals, and 11 were from Odisha. One fisherman sustained injuries and was admitted to hospital for treatment, while the remaining fishermen reached Gangolli Harbour safely.
It is learnt that a portion of the boat’s fibre structure broke while it was engaged in fishing, allowing seawater to enter and eventually causing the vessel to sink.
As soon as they received information about the incident, B. Shekhar Kunder of Maravanthe and Ramanna of Uppunda provided their boats to assist in the rescue operation, displaying commendable humanitarian spirit.
Local fishermen Abhishek Kharvi of Malyarabettu, Chandrashekar Kharvi of Uppunda, Sandesh S. and Eshwar Lokappa Tandel joined Gangolli Coastal Security Police Inspector Ramesh K., Sub-Inspector Subrahmanya and other personnel in the rescue operation.
The timely intervention of the local fishermen and Coastal Security Police ensured that all the fishermen were brought safely to shore.
Gangolli Coastal Security Force Inspector Ramesh, SI Subrahmanya, personnel Raghavendra, Nagaraj Kharvi, Nagesh, Ramesh, Kiran and Yuvaraj, KND personnel Sandesh and Santosh Kharvi, and fishermen Sandesh, Rama Kharvi and Abhi of Gangolli, Shekhar Kunder, Chandrashekar Kharvi and others participated in the rescue operation.
A case has been registered at the Gangolli Coastal Security Police Station in connection with the incident.