Update: Saturday, April 28, 9-30 am IST
Commandant Manoj Baadkar of the Indian Coast Guard in Karnataka, speaking exclusively to Daijiworld.com on Saturday morning, confirmed that the fishing trawler that was rescued along with its crew numbering 18, was indeed Vasco-registered and the crew members hailed from different parts of the country and not Uttar Kannada alone.
Mangalore: Coast Guard Vessel MV Kasturba Gandhi Rescues 18 Fishermen
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (MB)
Mangalore, Apr 28 (6-40 am IST): The Coast Guard force in Karnataka headquartered in this port city rescued 18 fisheremen hailing from the coastal region in the early hours of Friday.
Around 7 pm on April 26, the Coast Guard command received a distress message regarding a fishing boat named 'Vailankanni Star', which reportedly went missing 20 hours after it had gone on fishing on April 25.
File pic of MV Kasturba Gandhi, clicked on its launching, by Rajtilak Naik
The Mangalore-based fast patrol vessel MV Kasturba Gandhi, led by commanding officer A A Hebbar, was immediately pressed into action. Helicopters also joined in the search operation. After a night-long search, the boat with all its 18 fishin crew was traced at 20 nautical miles north west of Tadadi port in Uttar Kannada district and brought them ashore safely.
The Coast Guard personnel handed them over to the fisheries and local administration in Tadadi.
It was not still confirmed if they hailed from Uttar Kannada or elsewhere, in the light of a report from Goa that a trawler from Vasco reportedly went missing on the Karnataka coast.
Both reports could be about the same boat, said fisheries sources.
Map courtesy: The Coast Guard
Goa report:
Goan trawler missing off Ankola coast
An earlier report from Poinguinim in Goa said that a Vasco-based trawler carrying about 20 fishermen had gone missing somewhere off Ankola in Karnataka.
According to the report, the trawler, owned by one Carvalho from Vasco, had ventured into the Arabian Sea for its routine fishing activity.
On Wednesday afternoon, the owner received a wireless message from the captain stating that the trawler was in distress somewhere off the Ankola coast in Karnataka.
Senior officials of the Karnataka Coast Guard, who were contacted, promptly dispatched helicopters to survey the area.
However, it is learnt that they were unable to sight the missing vessel or the fishermen at once.
From Daijiworld's archives: