Indian Navy deployed its surface and air assets for the Search and Rescue (SAR) of missing fishermen at sea off the coast of Mangalore. Out of the 14 fishermen who were in a fishing boat that suffered a collision, two fishermen have been shifted to safety and three bodies have been recovered till 6 pm on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by the Defence Ministry, It was reported that an Indian Fishing Boat 'IFB Rabah' with 14 fishermen embarked had suffered a collision with a Singapore flag merchant ship 'MV APL Le Havre', 40 nautical miles west of New Mangalore at about 0200h on April 13.
"Indian Naval Ships Tillanchang and Kalpeni along with naval aircraft from Goa were deployed in the area to augment SAR efforts of Coast Guard vessels," The statement said.
"While two rescued fishermen have been shifted to safety ashore, three bodies have been recovered thus far. The search is on for the remaining nine fishermen," the ministry said.
Defence Ministry said that in order to assist in the rescue efforts INS Subhadra, a patrol vessel was sailed from Karwar with a Diving Team embarked. The ship arrived on the scene in the early hours of April 14. Two specialist diving teams are undertaking snag line search in the area in an effort to locate the sunk fishing craft.
( With inputs from ANI )
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