The Indian Coast Guard has located 11 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu who went missing a couple of days ago, nearly 1,100 km off Goa. The boat, ‘Mercedes’, had set sail on April 6 for deep sea fishing from the Thengapatnam fishing harbour.
On April 24, the Tamil Nadu fisheries authorities alerted the Coast Guard about the sighting of debris by other fishing boats operating in the area.
The Indian Coast Guard activated the International Safety Net to alert merchant vessels transiting near the area where the debris was found to look out for the missing boat. ICGS Samudra Prahiri was also deployed for search and rescue operations. The Indian Navy was also requested to launch long range maritime patrol aircraft.
As the reported position was located in Pakistan Search and Rescue Region, the assistance of MRCC Karachi was also sought, the Coast Guard said in a press release.
After four days of continuous search, the boat was located around 370 km from Lakshadweep Islands. An ICG Dornier located the presence of the fishing boat on Wednesday morning, the release said.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai, established communication with the fishing boat on a satellite phone and ascertained the crew to be safe. The Tamil Nadu fisheries authorities also informed the search team that the crew of Mercedes had called up home through satellite phone to indicate that they were safe. Following this, the Indian Coast Guard ship was diverted to render logistic and medical assistance to the crew.
The boat is expected to return to Thengapatnam port on May 3, the release said.
