Seven fishermen had a miraculous escape after their fishing boat capsized near Visakhapatnam fishing port on Thursday morning amid harsh sea conditions caused by a clearly defined low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal along the Odisha coast, officials said.
According to a senior police officer from Visakhapatnam Police Commissionerate, the fishermen ventured into the sea on a fishing trip at around 7 am when their boat lost control in the high waves while they were casting nets.
He added, “The ship capsized due to strong currents and drifted toward the tetrapods near the harbour, which led to the fishermen being trapped under the upturned boat. The crew was able to cling to the wreckage until they were rescued, escaping with their lives.”
Two fishermen, identified as Tata Rao and Akash, were seriously injured in the incident and were rushed to King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam, where they are undergoing treatment. The remaining five fishermen, whose names the police did not reveal, escaped unharmed.
One of the survivors told local reporters that the fishing boat capsized due to the high tide, which was unexpected. “We believe we are saved with the blessings of Goddess Gangamma,” he said.
He pointed out that the accident caused them significant financial losses. The boat is valued at approx $2.5 lakh and fishing nets worth approx $2 lakh were completely destroyed, bringing the total losses to approx $4.5 lakh.
“We have lost our basic means of livelihood,” the survivor said. “We are appealing to the state government for financial assistance to help us resume fishing.”
State Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha spoke over phone with Visakhapatnam District Collector M Abhishiketh Kishore and Police Commissioner Shankara Pratha Bagchi and inquired about the incident. I directed them to provide the best possible medical treatment to the injured fishermen
A statement from her office said the Home Secretary also spoke to fisheries department officials and asked them to intensify awareness among the fishing community on safety measures during bad weather conditions. It also confirmed that the government stands with the affected fishermen.
This is the third major incident involving fishermen in the Bay of Bengal. On July 4, a mechanized fishing vessel carrying seven fishermen from Visakhapatnam capsized about 10 nautical miles off the coast of Gangavaram after its engine broke down amid rough seas. Boat owner Carrie Sheena was the sole survivor after drifting for several hours before being rescued by a passing cargo ship.
After a 72-hour multi-agency search by the Coast Guard and Indian Navy, authorities called off the search and a three-member panel concluded that the six missing fishermen were presumed dead. The government paid as an ex gratia $10 thousand pounds for each family of fishermen prisoners.
A similar incident occurred off the coast of West Bengal, where police recovered the bodies of nine fishermen from a sunken fishing vessel in the Bay of Bengal near the Sundarbans last Monday.
The fishing vessel, carrying 15 fishermen, left the fishing port of Digha Shankarpur in Purba Medinipur district on July 2, but disappeared after losing contact with it on July 5 amid bad weather.
After an eight-day search operation involving the police, forest department and Indian Coast Guard, the submerged fishing vessel was located near Bagirchar, about 35 kilometers off the coast of Pakkhali, and was taken to Sitarampur in Gobardhanpur, where nine bodies were recovered. Six fishermen are still missing, and joint search operations are continuing.
