Rough Arabian sea claims eight lives, more than 300 deep sea boats stranded

Eight fishermen were drowned in the rough Arabian seas off coastal Karnataka after five boats capsized in the heavy monsoon rains even as the authorities claimed that more than 300 fishing boats remained stranded in the deep seas.

Government officials said five fishing boats were drowned in the gutsy sea waves around six nautical miles from the Malpe coast in coastal Karnataka’s Udupi district on Monday. The eight fishermen on the board the ill-fated fishing boats hailed from Bhatkal and Brahmavar.

Two rescue boats from Mangalore Coast Guards, however, managed to rescue three fishermen from the destroyed fishing boats during the last twenty-four hours.

Meanwhile, more than 300 fishing boats that had ventured to into the deep sea fishing a couple of days ago remained stranded. “The boats are unable to come to the shore due to the powerful waves being whipped up near the shores”, Karnataka Minister for Ports Nagaraj Shetty told reporters.

However, the rescue boats – Annie Besant and Kasturba – had managed to bring close to a hundred boats to the shore since the last twenty-four hours, he said. Efforts remained underway on Tuesday to bring the struggling boats to the coast.

Minister in charge of Udupi district V S Acharya told reporters that the rescue boat Annie Besant had taken almost four hours to reach Udupi from Mangalore, which is barely 40 nautical miles away, due to the rough weather. A helicopter too was pressed into service, but had to return due to poor visibility, Acharya added.

Though Udupi district administration had issued a warning on May 27 against venturing into the sea as it may turn rough in the next forty-eight hours, thousands of fishermen left for deep-sea fishing in hundreds of boats.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy arrived in Udupi on Tuesday for an on the spot inspection of the coastal region devastated by the monsoon. He announced a compensation of Rs 100,000 each to the kin of the deceased fishermen.

Apart from the loss of lives in the high seas, the heavy rains in mainland Udupi claimed three lives, taking the total number of deaths to eleven. A 45-year-old man died when a branch of a fig tree fell on him while two others, including a woman, were washed away in a stream at Udayar village in the coastal district.