Fishing workers rescued from vessel that sank off Goa coast return

Emotional scenes as rescued fishing workers return to Munambam after vessel sank off Goa coast, two still missing.

Emotional scenes were played out when nine of the 11 fishing workers rescued from a vessel that had left for deep-sea fishing from the Munambam mini harbour and sank after colliding with an Indian Navy platform off the Goa coast last week returned to Munambam on Wednesday (November 27).

They were in tears as two of their co-workers remain missing since the accident on November 21. The missing persons are Janeesh, 29, of Colachel in Tamil Nadu, who had been serving as the boat driver since the last season, and Ramesh, 24, of Odisha. Many of the workers spotted marks of injuries they sustained in the accident.

“We were engaged in fishing when the driver called out that we may move to another spot since the catch seemed to be meagre. Just then, we heard a sound, and when we looked back, we saw the rear end of the boat getting lifted, and eventually the boat sank throwing us all into the water,” recalled one of the workers.

The vessel with a 13-member crew reportedly collided with a submarine. Following the accident, the Navy rescued five workers, while the rest could not be found.

“According to the survivors, they were rescued by another vessel, thus taking the total number of rescued to 11. Janeesh probably got trapped in the driver’s room in the boat, which sank,” said Alby O., one of the three partners who owned the vessel.

Incidentally, none of the workers aboard the vessel are from Kerala. They are mostly from West Bengal, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu.

The seven-year-old vessel, Mar Thoma, had left the Munambam mini harbour for deep-sea fishing on November 15. Usually, the expedition lasts 10 to 12 days depending on how far the workers go in search of a catch.