All we did for the past six days was pray to the sea god,” said 55-year-old Walter Khaku, who was on 1 of the 2 boats that went missing from Vasai on Saturday.
MUMBAI: “All we did for the past six days was pray to the sea god,” said 55-year-old Walter Khaku, who was on one of the two boats that went missing from Vasai on Saturday, following sudden rough winds at sea.
After six harrowing days, one of the boats — Pratifal — returned safely with its crew of 14 fishermen on Friday.
“We are used to the sea being rough, but this storm scared me,” said Walter as he was welcomed by his relatives.
Walter, who owns the boat, had gone out to sea with several members of his family.
The Pratifal joined 189 other boats as they went fishing across the western coast near Vasai, Arnala and Utthan.
As weather conditions deteriorated, fishermen from the other boats were able to contact their relatives.
However, the crew of the Pratifal and the other boat —Christraja — failed to establish any contact with their families.
“We were in the middle of the sea and our wireless communication systems had stopped working due to the rough weather,” said 43-year-old Pasku Khaku.
He said they were unable to reach the nearest dock and decided to anchor the boat in the middle of the sea.
“The waves were so high that the boat was not stable even for a single moment. The food items we had taken were spoilt due to rain and we could not even use a gas stove,” said Pasku.
The crew of the Pratifal survived by eating raw onions, he said.
“I was scared and there was no food,” said Walter’s 14-year-old nephew Christmas Peter Khaku.
Recalling a similar storm in 1976, Walter said, “The coast guard could not even find all the bodies during that storm. I was just praying that no such mishap happens again.”
Hoping that everyone on the Christraja was safe, Walter said, “I heard that they had contacted their relatives and might return on Saturday.”
Authorities said that contact with Christraja had been established and the boat was likely to come back to shore on Saturday.
All 16 people onboard the boat were safe, local authorities said.
The entire fishermen community was upset with the weather bureau for not issuing a warning on August 22, when the fishermen had left for fishing.
“We are planning to take up the issue with the tehsildar and the weather bureau,” said Valentine Mirchi, president of the Akhil Maharashtra Macchimaar Kruti Samiti and also a local Congress corporator.
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