ICG operation: 1 dead, 15 fishermen rescued

Mangaluru: A fisherman who had accidentally fallen overboard at sea died even as Indian Coast Guard (ICG) launched a massive search and rescue operation to save him. The victim, identified as M. Suluvai Crus, was a crew member of fishing vessel ‘Gain’ (Registration no IND KL-07-MM-5294).

As per sources, the ICG received a distress call from the owner of the fishing boat seeking help to locate the victim who had fallen overboard at about 8pm in the night. The boat with 16 crewmen on board was anchored six nautical miles off the coast of Mangalore.

Immediately responding to the emergency, the ICGS Amartya based at New Mangalore Port was diverted from routine patrol at sea to proceed full speed, for Search and Rescue (SAR) of the missing fisherman. The ship reached the position shortly before midnight and established communication with the fishing boat.

An extensive search operation was launched by the ship in the area for the missing fisherman and also ascertained that all crew of the boat were in safe and healthy condition and have sufficient stock of logistics material. As the area of search was close to the coast in shallow waters, the Coast Guard District Headquarters-3 based at New Mangalore also liaised with Coastal Security Police and the fisheries department to form a part of the SAR operation team

On Thursday Dec 6^th, the owner of the fishing boat informed the Coast Guard team that the body of missing fisherman has been recovered by them at about 12:25 in the noon. Hence the search and rescue operation was called off.