Udupi: Four tourists, including a woman, from Kerala were forced to spend an entire night ar the St Mary’s Island after they missed the last ferry for the day.
The stranded tourists - Justin (34), Sheeja (33), Josh (28) and Harish (17) spent the entire night clicking photographs on the island and returned to Malpe beach on Sunday morning after the first boat reached the tourist island at 7.30 am.
As per reports, the four tourists had ventured out to a small island close to St Mary's Island, and could not return in time for the last ferry due to an increase in the water-level. The last ferry, which leaves the island at 6.45 pm was unaware about the missing tourists.
The ferry staff which spotted the stranded tourists informed the jurisdictional police and a preliminary inquiry was conducted. The tourists were let-off after verification of their identity cards, the tickets purchased to visit St Mary’s Island, the railway tickets, among others.
Speaking about the incident, Udupi Superintendent of Police Nisha James said; “The incident of tourists missing the boat and spending an entire night on St Mary’s island exposes the negligence of the contractors who had bagged the boat services to St Mary’s Island. We will seek an explanation from the Malpe Beach Development Committee. We will direct the authorities to post additional security personnel on the island, keeping the interest of tourists’ safety.”
