Chennai, Nov 4:
Nine fishermen who set out for deep-sea fishing from Chennai’s Kasimedu fishing harbour have gone missing after their mechanised fishing boat lost contact amid rough sea conditions triggered by Cyclone Murasu, local fishing community members said on Wednesday.
The crew had embarked on October 29 aboard a mechanised vessel bearing registration number TN 02 MM 2584, owned by a local fisherman identified as Selvalagan. According to fellow fisherman Sathish Kumar, shore contact with the vessel was completely severed at around 3 PM on November 3. The crew had earlier been advised to return to shore due to turbulent weather but was unable to complete the journey, forcing them to drop anchor alongside another boat.
“Up until 3 pm yesterday, we had communication with them. They said they could not return and had dropped anchor,” Kumar said. “But this morning, Saravanan and Surya, the drivers of the nearby boat, informed us that the vessel was no longer at its anchored spot.”
Following the boat’s disappearance, distressed families and community representatives submitted formal petitions to the Assistant Director of Fisheries, the Indian Coast Guard, and state ministers seeking urgent rescue operations. Urging rapid government intervention, Kumar added: “We have submitted letters to the Coast Guard and the state government, but we have not received any information yet. The family members are highly distressed. We request the Tamil Nadu government to take immediate action and deploy Coast Guard ships and helicopters to rescue the nine men.”