At least three fishing trawlers capsized in the Bay of Bengal off Kendua island in South 24-Parganas amid turbulent weather on Friday morning of which one vessel and five fishermen, stayed traceless till the night.
Sources in the state fisheries department said that a stretch of hidden alluvial land (char) near Kendua island was the reason for the capsize as boatmen failed to recognise the water level amid tidal turbulence before dashing into it.
One ill-fated trawler — the MV Satyanarayan — that capsized around 20km away from Kendua island, went missing with 18 fishermen on board.
Thirteen of them were rescued late on Friday evening, additional director of fisheries (marine) Piyal Sardar said. Five fishermen were still missing when reports last came in on Friday night.MV Satyanarayan, the vessel, has not been traced.
The state government had undertaken a rescue operation since morning and also requested the Indian Coast Guard as well as other trawlers sailing close to it for help. However, the weather in the sea is turbulent, making the rescue process both slow and risky, Sardar added.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Biplab Roy Chowdhury, the state fisheries minister, said: “It is an unfortunate incident. The fishermen invited trouble by venturing into deep sea despite the bad weather alert.”Earlier in the day, 24 fishermen of the two other trawlers — MV Sudhamoyee and MV Bisalaxmi — that capsized around 12km away from Kakdwip, were rescued unharmed.On August 16, the ill-fated MV Satyanarayan had left Kakdwip for deep marine fishing with 18 fishermen.
Sources in the South 24-Parganas district administration and fishermen in Kakdwip said the trawler had capsized around 9am on Friday. Some other trawlers sailing close to it had informed the administration and their unions about it. Those trawlers were advised to proceed to rescue the boatmen.
However, bad weather hampered wireless land-to-sea communication, Bijan Maity, the joint secretary of the West Bengal United Fishermen’s Association, said. Maity added that the Coast Guard authorities told them that the turbulent sea was making it difficult for them to access the site of the accident.
Cyclonic conditions made aerial scanning tough, he added. Under these circumstances, the rescue of 13 fishermen is nothing short of a miracle, he said. In July last year, a trawler sank in the Bay of Bengal near Fraserganj, with nine fishermen trapped inside.
A senior official of state fisheries department said: “Fishermen unions have told us that hidden chars were a major navigation problem in shallow waters along the coastline. We have been trying to find out a way, but nothing has materialised. However, we always advise trawler owners to engage experienced persons for navigation, which is often flouted and we unfortunately don’t have an official mechanism to enforce it.”
