A country boat, used for deep sea fishing, was gutted in a fire accident on Pamban north seashore, on Monday night.
The Marine Police of the Coastal Security Group (CSG) said the fishermen anchored the 40-foot-long vallam (country boat) on Monday afternoon after returning from fishing, and the fire broke out around 11 p.m.
Citing preliminary reports, P.S. Ramesh Kumar, Inspector of Police, CSG, ruled out sabotage, and said battery leakage could have triggered the fire. His team, assisted by local fishermen, tried in vain to put out the fire, he said.
Michael, the boat owner, said he had suffered a total loss of over Rs. 30 lakh as the boat worth about Rs. 17 lakh and fishing nets and other paraphernalia worth Rs. 15 lakh were completely gutted in the fire.
He had bought the boat one and a half years ago after borrowing money, he said, and appealed to the government to protect his livelihood by providing compensation.
Trawler
sinks
Five Rameswaram fishermen escaped after their mechanised trawler sank when they were fishing on the high seas near Katchatheevu on Tuesday morning.
The fishermen, who had set out for fishing on Monday, were returning to the shore on Tuesday morning when their boat capsized and sank near Katchatheevu following gusty winds.
Immediately, the fishermen onboard, including boat owner Raja, jumped into another boat and escaped, the fishermen said.
The boat sank in the Indian waters and the fishermen had marked the place with the help of Geo-Positioning System for salvage, fishermen leader P. Sesu Raja said.
As the sea was rough, the salvage operation could be launched only after a couple of days, he said.
Boat owner
said he had
suffered a total
loss of over
Rs. 30 lakh
