The Coast Guard personnel on Thursday rescued 11 Sri Lankan fishermen after their boats drifted towards the shore between Cuddalore and Puducherry due to rough sea conditions.
According to sources, five fishermen from Trincomalee in Sri Lanka had set sail on a fibreglass boat on March 27. The boat developed a technical snag and was adrift in the sea. The fishermen alerted their counterparts who arrived in another boat and attempted to tow it back to Lanka.
Acting on a tip-off that two Sri Lankan fibre boats were noticed about 20 nautical miles off the Puducherry fishing harbour, the Coast Guard along with ‘Q’ branch CID personnel, and the Coastal Security Group (CSG), rushed to the spot and conducted enquiries with the fishermen onboard the boats. The fishermen were then taken to Cuddalore. Coastal Security Group Inspector Sangeetha said that the first boat went missing on March 27 in the territorial waters of Sri Lanka and a complaint had been lodged with the authorities there.
The boat had drifted towards Nagapattinam coast on Wednesday and fishermen in the second boat had come to tow the boat back to Lanka. The fishermen were stranded between Cuddalore and Puducherry, she said. Further investigations are on.
