Fishing vessel collides with naval platform off Goa coast; 2 fishermen missing

A fishing vessel collided with a submarine of the Indian Navy about 70 nautical miles off Goa coast and a massive rescue operation is underway to trace two missing crew members of the vessel, officials said on Friday.

The incident happened on Thursday evening.

The fishing vessel, Marthoma, had 13 crew members and 11 of them were rescued in the search operation, the Navy said.

The Navy deployed six ships and an unknown number of surveillance aircraft in the rescue mission.

“An Indian fishing vessel Marthoma with a crew of 13 reportedly collided with an Indian Naval unit on November 21 about 70 nm North West of Goa,” an Indian Navy spokesperson said.

“Search and rescue efforts were immediately launched by the Indian Navy with six ships and aircraft. Eleven crew have been rescued so far,” he said.

The rescue efforts for remaining two crew members of the fishing vessel is underway and is being coordinated with the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Mumbai.

The Navy has ordered a high-level investigation into the incident.

The spokesperson said additional assets, including from the Coast Guard, have been diverted to the area of the incident to augment the rescue efforts.