Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi

Udupi, May 21: A deep-sea fishing boat that had set sail from the Malpe fishing port sank in the Arabian Sea near Kodi Bengre on Tuesday night, May 19. Fortunately, all six fishermen on board were safely rescued.

The rescued fishermen include tandel Raghavendra from Uttara Kannada district, and crew members Rohidas Mogera, Shyam Sundar Malik, Ujwal Malik, Satyajit Malik, and Thrilesh Bhaskar.

The boat, named 'Sai Datta', owned by Sandeep Kumar of Kidiyoor Padukare, had departed from Malpe port for a fishing expedition at 10:30 pm on May 17.

At around 4:30 pm on May 19, while operating at a depth of 38 meters off the Kodi Bengre coast, the crew heard a loud thud as an unidentified object struck the rear bottom of the boat. Upon going below deck to inspect, tandel Raghavendra discovered that water was rapidly gushing into the vessel.

The crew immediately sought help from a nearby boat, 'Sri Amma Bhavani'. Despite their best efforts to pump the water out of the flooding vessel, they were unsuccessful. All six fishermen safely transferred to the rescue boat.

While attempting to tow the sinking vessel back to Malpe port, a rear towing pole of the 'Sri Amma Bhavani' boat snapped. Consequently, the 'Sai Datta' boat completely sank into the sea at around 11:00 pm.

The total loss, including the boat, fishing nets, diesel, and the fish catch, is estimated to be around Rs 65 lac.