Satellite phone communication is the need of the hour sailing vessel crew. The much awaited communication facility could play a major role in rescuing any crew in distress at sea, according to S. Lasington Fernando, secretary, Thoothukudi Coastal Mechanised Sail Vessel Owners Association.
The facility could be put to minimal usage of an hour or so every day, primarily to exchange communication about knowing the position of such vessel at sea, weather and the nearest seaport from sailing vessels.
Currently, the sail vessel fleet is equipped with VHF communication system and with this aid, the crew could be reached only up to 20 nautical miles at sea. At times of distress or any snag in engine, there was no means of tool to communicate either with search and rescue team or with the vessel operators.
Hence, satellite phones had become the most sought after device for the sailing crew, he told The Hindu here on Saturday.
The fleet of 25 sail vessels with cargo had been making voyages to various port destinations including Sri Lanka, the Maldives, the Lakshadweep Islands and the West coast.
Moreover, at perilous situations of any cyclone, jetties in nearby Ports should allow such cargo sail vessels and accommodate to berth on humanitarian grounds to save lives of crew. No matter damage caused to cargo, which is considered secondary, but priority should be accorded to save lives of crew during cyclone like situations.
A stranded sail vessel onboard eight crew at 110 nautical miles off Kavaratti Island, in the cyclone Ockhi, was rescued. Citing this, Mr. Lasington thanked the Indian Navy, which used its chopper in the search and rescue mission, and the Indian Coast Guard.
To protect this traditional sail vessel industry, he sought dry docking facility in Thoothukudi, which if facilitated with a major seaport.
With an approval of ₹ 1 lakh crore by the Centre towards development of Ports and Highways in Tamil Nadu, he said establishment of dry docking facility needed to be prioritised.
At present, dry docking was done in a crude method and it was not good for the vessel in the long run. Every vessel operator had to incur a huge expenditure of ₹ 8 lakh for dry docking by a private player here.
