Seven fishermen were injured when their deep sea trawl boat hit a rock to the north of St. Mary’s Island, about four nautical miles from Malpe beach, on Monday night. The incident took place around 7.30 p.m. on Monday, when the engine developed a snag and the boat hit a boulder in the sea, damaging it. The fishermen climbed the boulder to save themselves. While climbing the boulder, they sustained minor injuries. The sea was rough. Though the local police, Coastal Security Police and Coast Guard, set out on two boats for a rescue mission, the fishermen refused to get down from the boulder out of fear of the rough sea. Hence, the operation had to be abandoned. The operation was taken up again around 6 a.m. on Tuesday and all seven fishermen were rescued. Since all of them were injured, they were admitted to the District Government Hospital here. The authorities gave the names of the injured fishermen as Vasu Naik (35), Panduranga (29), Jagadish (28), Manjunath (45) from Bhatkal, Santhosh (30) from Kota, Subayya (48) from Shiroor, and Vasudeva (27). Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, visited the fishermen at the hospital and promised them all help. He lauded the local police, Coastal Security Police and Coast Guard for their untiring efforts in rescuing the fishermen. I have urged the government to give them a reward, he said.
2016, The Hindu