Deployed aircraft, ship to search for Kasimedu fishermen caught in Cyclone Murasu, says Coast Guard

CHENNAI: Facing allegations that it did not take adequate efforts to rescue the nine men on board the fishing trawler from Kasimedu, the Indian Coast Guard said it deployed an aircraft and a ship to undertake coordinated aerial and maritime searches immediately.

After the boat was caught in Cyclone Murasu, seven of them died, while search is under way for the remaining two.

In its statement clarifying the sequence of events, the Coast Guard (ICG) said the boat, Sri Sengalamman, left Kasimedu on October 29. After receiving warnings that Cyclone Murasu would make landfall between Nellore and Narsapur on the night of November 2 and 3, it took shelter at Nizampatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Despite weather warnings, the men left with the trawler from Nizampatnam on November 2 night, as Cyclone Murasu crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast. ICG said the crew may have mistaken a temporary lull in winds for the storm having passed.

Around noon on November 3, the Coast Guard received the first report the trawler getting caught in the fury of the storm. Within a couple of hours, a search aircraft from Chennai was airborne, while a ship stationed at Krishnapatnam was deployed the same day. Coordinated aerial and maritime searches were conducted on November 3, 4, and 5, it said.

During the search, they found a submerged green-hulled boat, apparently Sri Sengalamman, off the Andhra coast around 9.35 am on November 5. Of the nine fishermen, seven bodies have been recovered, while the search for two was continuing, it added.

Earlier, relatives of the fishermen had told DT Next that the crew contacted nearby fishing vessels and the boat owner after the vessel stalled due to strong winds and heavy rain that stopped its engine. The families accused the boat owner and the Coast Guard of failing to ensure the fishermen's safety, arguing that timely intervention could have saved them.