It was a virtual rebirth for 47-year-old fisherman Arthur Sunil Coelho from Mangaluru on the day of Monthi Fest (Virgin Mary fest) when he arrived at Malpe fishing harbour on Tuesday morning after spending two nights in a dinghy amidst the deep and turbulent Arabian Sea alone.
A resident of Ullal Hoige off Mangaluru on the southern banks of Netravathi, Mr. Coelho got into Falcon, a purse-seine fishing boat, along with some 30 other fishermen at Mangaluru fishing harbour early on Sunday morning. When the vessel was in the deep sea by afternoon, he got into the dinghy trailing the vessel to spread the net along with three other fishermen. By evening they had finished spreading the net but the sea had become turbulent with heavy rains and wind.
While the three other fishermen went back to the mother vessel, Mr. Coelho stayed in the boat saying he cannot disembark the vessel again to remove the net owing to his advanced age. At the same time, the mother vessel had developed some technical snag with most of the fishermen huddled inside the engine room to ignite the engine, according to Sachin Jeevan Coelho, his elder son.
Meanwhile, the rope connecting the mother vessel and the dinghy snapped due to rough winds while Mr. Coelho could not catch the rescue rope thrown by a fellow fisherman from the vessel. Soon, he was floating in the deep sea. Though the mother vessel was repaired by Monday morning, it could not locate Mr. Coelho whose dinghy was moving aimlessly. “With no food or water on the boat, my father collected rainwater in plastic bottles to survive. Though he was sure the dinghy won’t sink, he was afraid of other vessels hitting him during the night,” Mr. Jeevan said even as Mr. Coelho was recovering from the trauma at his home on Wednesday.
Finally, Seagull, a deep sea fishing boat returning to Malpe fishing harbour in neighbouring Udupi district, saw the dinghy and Mr. Coelho before pulling him onto the vessel and offering him the much needed food and water. He was brought to Malpe on Tuesday morning and Mr. Coelho reached home by afternoon.