Chennai, Apr 28 (IANS): The Indian Coast Guard on Wednesday said it has located the 11 missing Tamil Nadu fishermen and their boat about 1,100 km off Goa, and is escorting them back to land.

In a statement, the Coast Guard said the fishing boat, with 11 crew on board, had sailed from the Thengapattnam Fishing harbour in Tamil Nadu for a 30 day deep sea fishing voyage on April 6.

On April 24, the Tamil Nadu fisheries authorities intimated sighting of debris by other fishing boats operating in the area presuming the fishing boat to be sunk.

The Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre (MRCC) of Coast Guard at Mumbai activated the International Safety Net to alert merchant vessels transiting near the reported position to look out for the missing boat.

Simultaneously, Coast Guard ship Samudra Prahari was diverted for a search and the Indian Navy was also requested to launch Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft.

It was learnt that the fishing boat was not carrying AIS or any other transponder which could have assisted in early locating of the boat by the search units.

Four days later, the missing boat was located around 200 miles (around 370 km) from Lakshadweep Islands. A Coast Guard Dornier aircraft located and corroborated the presence of the fishing boat on Wednesday morning.

The fishing boat is returning to its base port under escort of the Coast Guard and will reach around May 3.