Investigating agencies are yet to achieve a breakthrough in the case of the fisherman who went missing on Saturday after a vessel rammed the fishing boat he was in, off Chennai coast.
The investigation is being carried out by various agencies including Mercantile Marine Department, Indian Coast Guard, Chennai Port Trust and the police.
As the incident took place around 4.30 a.m. on Saturday, the fishermen who survived the accident said they were unable to identify the vessel.
Officials said they had zeroed in on a couple of vessels but were unable to give further details. An underwater survey would be carried out, if necessary, to find if the vessels bore scratches or paint marks indicating a collision. Currently, M.V. Grietje is docked in the west quay of the Port.
A Port official said, “This is the only vessel that entered the Port on Saturday morning. We are not sure if the vessel was involved in the mishap. However, we are not letting it go without a clearance signal. The incident seems to have happened 20 to 25 nautical miles off the coast. Our tracking system can track vessel movement only up to five nautical miles. We are depending on the Coast Guard and mercantile department for a final verdict.”
On Saturday, Ennore Port received a car carrier from Chennai Port. Ruling out the involvement of the car carrier, an Ennore Port official said the carrier was sailing between the ports and would not have gone into deep sea.
“We did two sorties to trace the missing fisherman, but could not find him. A clear picture will emerge soon after retrieving the data from the Voyage Data Recorder and Automatic Identification System in these vessels,” an investigating official said on Sunday.
