A cargo ship collided with a fishing boat off the Tamil Nadu coast and, under impact, two fishermen, part of the crew of 17, were ‘thrown out’ and were rescued by the Coast Guard on Saturday. Seeking compensation for the fishermen, Secretary-General Father Churchill claimed that the collision was caused by “negligence” and caused “damage” to the boat and 17 fishermen were injured.
The Kanyakumari district-based SAFF chief urged the government to take steps to meet international standards for fishermen as well as get fair compensation for boat damage. “The Panama-flagged cargo ship Navy Venus bound for Mumbai from Singapore did not stop after colliding with a fishing boat. This was due to sheer negligence,” he told PTI and urged the authorities to seize the ship and arrest its captain.
“Such incidents keep happening as there is no strict action. If a driver causes an accident on the road, he is arrested. Why is this not followed in the case of a ship? Why this apathy?” he asked. The Coast Guard said in a press release that it had received information about a collision between a merchant ship ‘Navius Venus’ and a fishing boat ‘Shizumon’ at sea. It said that two members of the fishing boat’s crew were thrown ‘overboard’ due to the impact of the collision. All the fishermen were rescued and provided medical aid and in the early hours of Saturday, two of those injured in the collision were taken. To Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College by a medical team from CG station Vizhinjam-Thiruvananthapuram. Both CG and SAFF said that the fishing boat was carried by local fishing boats and it was with the remaining crew of 15 Colachel had reached the fishing port in Tamil Nadu.
“We are in the process of registering an FIR with the Marine Police,” the Saif chief said.
“As they were tossed due to the impact of the collision, 15 other fishermen also suffered injuries.” Seeking legal action to the Directorate General of Shipping, SAFF said on October 22, at least 17 fishermen set out for deep sea fishing in a mechanized boat ‘Shijumon’ from the Colachel government fishing port. The fishing boat belonged to Rajamani, a fisherman from Kotilpadu in Kanyakumari district. While the fishing boat was about nineteen nautical miles from Colachel, the cargo ship collided with it causing further damage, resulting in injuries to the fishermen, two of whom were ejected. Immediately, the boat owner informed the Coast Guard about the collision and requested assistance, and CG personnel immediately rushed to the spot.
The two ‘thrown’ and injured fishermen were K Chinnathurai and P Arulraj, aged 50 and 60, respectively, and were taken to the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram for treatment. “We request your good office to take necessary and immediate legal action against the ship Navius Venus, which collided with the fishermen’s boat Shizumon and caused injury to the fishermen and heavy damage to the mechanized boat,” the representation said.
A copy of the representation was also sent to the fisheries, police and other officials in Cochin, Chennai and Kanyakumari urging action. Of the 17 fishermen, 15 were from Tamil Nadu and two others from West Bengal. On February 15, 2012, two sailors aboard the Italian-flagged oil tanker ‘Enrica Lexi’ allegedly killed two Indian fishermen from Kerala and aboard a fishing boat “accidentally” for piracy . Italy: The Supreme Court in June this year directed the closure of criminal proceedings in India against two Italian marines in connection with the killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast.
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