The Sri Lankan Navy has rescued three Rameswaram fishermen, whose boat sank on the high seas while fishing off Talaimannar. One fisherman is feared drowned.
The four fishermen were fishing on the high seas at the ‘Arichal kadal’ region on Saturday night when their mechanised boat began to sink. A Sri Lankan naval craft on patrol in the north-west off Talaimannar, on sighting the sinking trawler, rescued three fishermen, all in the 50-55 age group, reports received here on Sunday said.
The Navy personnel took the three fishermen — Soundarapandi, Joseph and Anthony — to the Talaimannar port. They are likely to be repatriated on Monday, U. Arulanandham, president of the Alliance for the Release of Innocent Fishermen said.
The fishermen had set out for fishing on Saturday morning from the fishing jetty here along with fishermen in more than 600 trawlers. Barring this boat, all the other boats returned to the shore on Sunday morning, sources in Fisheries Department said.
The missing fisherman, identified as Vilvaraj, could not be traced till Sunday evening, the sources said, adding that the department has requested the marine police, Indian Navy and Coast Guard to search for him.
As these agencies would confine their search operation within Indian waters, the department has also requested the Maritime Rescue Coordination Committee to alert the Sri Lankan Navy and launch a search operation, the sources said.
The humanitarian gesture by the Sri Lankan Navy comes amid reports of frequent arrests and attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen. The Sri Lankan Navy said in its website that there were no other fishing trawlers in the vicinity to render assistance. As the fishermen were exhausted, they were given refreshments at the Talaimannar harbour. During the past one week alone, the Sri Lankan Navy had rescued nine Tamil Nadu fishermen who were in distress.
