KOCHI: Last week, officials of the Marine Enforcement wing rescued eight fishermen on board a fishing vessel that sank south west off Kochi after catching fire.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the boat had no fire extinguishers on board to address an emergency. The boat operator incurred heavy losses due to the accident.
“The fire had erupted from a kerosene stove. Since there were no fire extinguishers, the people on board could not prevent it from spreading to the diesel tank,” said K.M. Sajeev, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Marine Enforcement.
The episode, according to the officer, was just one among several violations being reported from the fishing boat craft scenario in Kochi after the trawl ban was lifted a month ago. Officials have so far seized over 15 fishing boats from Beypore to Neendakara, including eight from Vypeen, for various offences including juvenile fishing, shore trawling, and operating without registration and licence. “In one instance, we even came across a Karnataka-registered boat operating out of Vypeen, using the colour code stipulated for boats from Kerala. The boat was immediately impounded and released after charging a user fee of ₹25,000,” the DySP said. The boats, impounded during a special drive launched by the department, were released after imposing hefty fines on their owners and auctioning off the fish stocks on board. The Marine Enforcement wing has so far realised around ₹8 lakh through the special drive, and it is expected to go up in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, official sources said some boats had even failed to meet the seaworthiness criteria.
An investigation report prepared by K. Padmakumar, Additional Director General of Police, last year had compared the fishing boat scenario in Kochi to “an absolutely unregulated public home”.
Noting that several unregistered fishing boats were plying through the Kochi backwaters on a daily basis, the report had called for urgent measures to check the trend.
