Mangalore sea accident: Navy deployed as search for 9 missing fishermen intensifies

The accident took place at around 2 am on April 13 when a Singapore-registered container ship, 'MV APL LE HAVRE' collided with IFB Rabah, the mechanised fishing boat which had 14 fishermen on board.

"Two specialist diving teams are undertaking snag line search in the area in an effort to locate the sunk fishing craft," the Indian Navy confirmed.

A day after three fishermen drowned to death and nine others went missing after a fishing boat capsized off Mangalore coast on Tuesday, the search was intensified for the others with the Indian Navy deploying its surface and air assets.

Patrol vessel INS Subhadra reached the site — 40 nautical miles west of New Mangalore — during the early hours of Wednesday from Karwar with a diving team. “Two specialist diving teams are undertaking snag line search in the area in an effort to locate the sunk fishing craft,” the Indian Navy confirmed.

In addition to this, Indian naval ships Tillanchang and Kalpeni along with naval aircraft from Goa have also been deployed in the area to augment search and rescue efforts of the India Coast Guard (ICG) vessels.

The accident took place at around 2 am on April 13 when a Singapore-registered container ship, ‘MV APL LE HAVRE’ collided with IFB Rabah, the mechanised fishing boat which had 14 fishermen on board.

The fishing boat is owned by Jaffer, a resident of Kozhikode in Kerala.

The ICG rescued two members — Sunil Das (34) from West Bengal and Velmurukan (37) from Tamil Nadu — successfully after which they were shifted to a hospital in Mangalore-Udupi. An official statement from the ICG identified the deceased as Manik Das (40) from West Bengal, Alaxander (45) and his uncle aged 50 from Tamil Nadu.

The fishing boat is owned by Jaffer, a resident of Kozhikode in Kerala. He had communicated to the authorities that seven out of the 14 crew members were from Tamil Nadu while the others were from West Bengal and Odisha.