The Coast Guard rescued 46 more fishermen in distress from the rough seas off the State’s coast on Sunday.
Official sources said Coast Guard vessel ICGS Aryaman rescued 19 fishermen in two Tamil Nadu registered fishing vessels- Bible and Arokya, and dropped them off at Chellanam.
The boats were located about 60 nautical miles south west off Kochi and all the fishermen on board were natives of Colachel in Tamil Nadu
While one of the boats was brought under tow, the other one reached the shore on its own power, they said.
Similarly, Coast Guard vessel ICGS Abhinav rescued five fishermen, all Keralites, on board the fishing vessel Joyal and brought them to Beypore.
Further, ICGS Amarthya rescued 22 fishermen on board the boat Thatvamasi, which was located about 25 nautical miles off Beypore and assisted them to safety.
The Coast Guard has expanded its search and rescue operations to 50 to 60 nautical miles with the weather conditions recording a remarkable improvement.
“The sea condition has improved though it is not conducive to fishing operations or any other sea going operations,” sources said.
Meanwhile, sources said many of the fishermen they had spotted during the rescue operations were reluctant to leave their vessels and board the Coast Guard vessel.
