Indian Navy trying to locate missing fishermen off Mangalore coast

New Delhi, April 14 (IANS) The Indian Navy deployed its surface and air assets for the Search and Rescue (SAR) of missing fishermen at sea off the coast of Mangalore."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 Mangaluru at about 2 am on April 13, 2021," the Indian navy said.The boat IFB Rabah had set off from Beypore in the Kozhikode district of Kerala on Sunday evening.The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) confirmed rescue of two crew members after an operation that began on Tuesday. The search for others continued till late night and is scheduled to continue on Wednesday as well.Thereafter, the Indian Navy was roped in for search and rescue operations.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.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. To assist in the rescue efforts INS Subhadra, a patrol vessel, was sailed from Karwar with a Diving Team embarked.The ship arrived on scene in the early hours of April 14, 2021."Two specialist diving teams are undertaking snagline search in the area in an effort to locate the sunk fishing craft," the Indian Navy
said.
--IANS sk/ash