Monsoon claims life of six fishermen who go missing in Arabian sea

The extended fury of the monsoon, which has converted the serene Arabian sea into a tossing and churning giant, has likely claimed the lives of six fishermen who had gone for a fishing expedition six days ago. Remains of their boat were found near Taneerbavi on Thursday morning.

Altogether, seven fishermen, aboard Ocean Fisheries II, had gone far into the Arabian sea for fishing. Their boat was caught in a storm and sank after getting trapped in a monsoon sand dune under water at the confluence of Gurupur river and the Arabian sea.One of the crew members, Vincent from Kerala, was lucky to be rescued by another fishing boat.

The missing fishermen have been identified as Shiva, Ramanan, Rahiman, Bishaq, Narayana and Srikanth. The boat belonged to Nasseer Ahmed and Barkat of Faringepet in Buntwal taluk. The six men who have been presumed dead were from fishermen’s villages in Baikampady, near Mangalore.

The boat owners told DNA that the fishermen had hired the boat from them six days ago. The group used to hire the boat in the beginning of the fishing season every year for the past three years.
The owners said Srikanth, the leader of the crew, had called them at midnight, saying they were returning with a load full of mackerels and sardines. Srikanth called again, 45 minutes later, saying the ship was in trouble.

Deputy director of fisheries, Suresh Kumar, said the government had issued an advisory, asking fishermen not to venture into the Arabian sea because it would be rough as the monsoon was getting active again. Kumar said all other trawl boats had been anchored and it was not known whether the missing fishermen’s boat was insured or not.

However, he said, the Fishermen Welfare Fund would give Rs50,000 to the families of each of the victim.This fishing season has not turned out well for the state fisheries. The new fishing season started on August 15, after a 55-day ban that was imposed because of monsoon.

Earlier, the duration of monsoon ban used to be about 90 days. It was reduced to 75 days in 1997 and then further reduced to 65 days in 2001. The duration of the monsoon ban was then slashed to 55 days in 2007 after fishermen’s organisation had built pressure in this regard. An official said the duration of 55 days was too short for monsoon ban and the monsoon was active even now.

The official said according to the Insurance Regulation and Development Authority, there was no provision to cover the fishing vessels that go to the sea when it is turbulent and the government and meteorological department have issued a storm alert.