As high tides continued to lash the beaches in Mangaluru on Saturday, the Indian Coast Guard here has advised tourists visiting beaches along the State’s coastline not to venture into the sea till Monday, owing to cyclone Ockhi.
The alert applies to fishermen as well. Merchant ships should also be alert and avoid the path of the cyclone, the Coast Guard, Karnataka, said in a release.
Various Naval, Coast Guard ships and aircraft are patrolling the seas to render search and rescue services. Merchant ships or fishing boats should also assist each other so that precious lives can be saved in time, the release said. Fishing boats should remain in groups and during distress, all the crew should remain together and act in buddy system, it said.
The type of distress, position, time, type of vessel/boat, vessel colour, name, number of crew and their medical condition, status of the machinery/hull condition of the distressed vessel/boat should be relayed urgently and repeated at regular intervals.
Any distress to life at sea must be conveyed by using maximum possible means, such as radio telephony Channel 16, mobile phone, DAT (Distress Alert Transmitter), INMARSAT (International Maritime Satellite System), EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon), SART (Search and Rescue Transponder) etc. In addition, traditional methods of alertness like waving of flag, arms, sounding of horn, etc. should also be used for directing the rescue units for the safety of life.
The Coast Guard can be contacted on toll free no. 1554 and VHF Channel 16. The landline numbers are 0824-2405278/2405269.
A bulletin of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services for coastal Karnataka said on Saturday that high waves in the range of 3 m to 3.9 m are forecast till 11.30 p.m. on December 3. Current speed varies between 36 to 61 cm per second, it said.
Mahesh Kumar, Deputy Director, Fisheries, Dakshina Kannada, said the four fishing boats which were stuck in heavy winds near the Old Port (or Fishing Harbour) on Friday have reached the port safely. No fishing boat from the port sailed out on Saturday, he said.
Udupi DC’s warning
The district administration has advised fishermen not to venture into the sea during the next 48 hours in Udupi district. In a release issued here on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis said the sea would be rough to very rough along and off the Karnataka coast during the next 48 hours. Squally wind speed reaching 45-55 km per hour gusting to 65 km per hour was very likely along and off Karnataka coast.
