In the aftermath of Cyclone Ockhi, the home ministry is planning to develop a communication system to relay information to fishermen at sea during emergencies like cyclones. This is likely to involve the installation of VHF sets in fishing boats so that information about bad weather can be circulated. The Indian Coast Guard rescued more than 850 stranded fishermen and provided assistance to thousands when the cyclone which originated south of Kanyakumari on November 29 cut across the Arabian Sea and hit Gujarat. However, a number of fishermen, especially from Kanyakumari district, remain missing. Indian Coast Guard inspector general (operations) S Paramesh said the need for relaying information to fishermen during emergencies was raised during a meeting of officials from the home ministry, fisheries ministry, animal husbandry department and others soon after the cyclone. “The Indian Coast Guard has proposed that VHF sets be installed in fishing boats so that information about an emergency can be communicated to the boat that is nearest to the shore. The boat can then relay the information to other boats in the area,” he added. He also said that during Cyclone Ockhi, information was communicated to all merchant ships through International SafetyNET, a channel to transmit maritime safety related messages to ships, following which a merchant ship rescued 29 stranded fishermen. Speaking on the sidelines of the national maritime search and rescue exercise Sarex-18 on board ICG Shaurya, Indian Coast Guard director general Rajendra Singh said, “We have given equipment to 1,800 fishing boats enabling them to send distress signals so that we can locate them but many of them do not switch it on.” He also said that the lessons learnt from the search and rescue operations during the cyclone would be included in the exercises of the fleet.