A barge on sail from Mumbai to Colombo got stuck off the Kollam coast on Friday morning when a huge fishing net cast in the sea got entangled in its propeller. The barge soon anchored and its captain Jayakumar immediately informed the Fisheries Station at Neendakara here.
A Fisheries Department patrol boat soon rushed with two local divers to the scene which was 17 nautical miles west of Kayamkulam. Attempts by the divers to clear the net went in vain as they said that the propeller was placed too deep and without aqua lungs it would be impossible to engage in clearing the net.
The csoon sent messages to the Indian Coast Guard station at Thiruvananthapuram and the Indian Navy at Kochi requesting the service of divers to clear the propeller. Deputy Director of Fisheries, K.G. Prasanna Kumar said that even by dusk on Friday, there was no response from the Coast Guard or the Navy. The barge continues to lie anchored at the scene of the mishap. Mr. Prasanna Kumar said the authorities at Kollam expect help to arrive from the Navy or Coast Guard by Saturday morning.
