Munambam mid-sea collision: MV Desh Shakti vessel examined

Officers, however, are yet to receive any concrete evidence regarding the ship’s involvement in the collision, in which three were killed and nine went missing in the sea.

KOCHI: A team from the Mercantile Marine Department and the Fort Kochi coastal police on Thursday inspected Indian flagged vessel MV Desh Shakti, suspected to be involved in the mid-sea collision off Munambam coast.

The investigation team reached the Mangaluru port in the morning and the inspection began around noon. “Forensic experts have collected paint samples from the ship. An examination of this will prove whether the ship actually caused the collision,” said a police officer.

Officers, however, are yet to receive any concrete evidence regarding the ship’s involvement in the collision, in which three were killed and nine went missing in the sea. They are also investigating the suspected role of a Liberian flagged ship, which was also present near the accident site.

Meanwhile, attempts to trace the missing fishermen in the sea continued on Thursday with two Indian Coast Guard ships Vikram and Aryaman, and INS Sunayna leading the search operations. Besides these ships, two helicopters of the Coast Guard and one helicopter of the Navy were also deployed for aerial surveillance.

The Marine Enforcement wing is coordinating a search operation by a team of 20 fishing boats from Munambam.Officials said the rescue team was unable to locate the wreckage of the sunken boat, Oceanic, as it was lying 70 metres deep on the seabed. “Rough sea conditions have severely affected the progress of the search operation, though the search using trawling nets are still underway. The rescue operations will continue for a week from Thursday,” said an officer.

Fisheries Minister J Mercykutty Amma and S Sharma MLA held a review meeting on Thursday to evaluate the progress of the rescue operations with senior officers of the Navy, Indian Coast Guard, District administration and district police.

Navy to deploy INS Sutlej for search operations

Kochi: Even as the search for nine fishermen continued for the third day on Thursday, the Indian Navy has decided to deploy its hydrographic survey vessel INS Sutlej to trace the debris of the sunken fishing boat. According to officers, INS Sutlej is being pressed into service following the request from the Kerala government. The vessel will join the search operation by Friday morning and it will scan the sea bed for the debris of the fishing boat. It is equipped with underwater camera, sensors and sonar system to scan for objects under water. It is suspected the nine missing fishermen might be trapped inside the debris of the boat. Already, Indian Naval Ship Jamuna and three Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ships - Vikram, Savitribai Phule and Abhinav - are engaged in search operations. A Naval Dornier, an ICG Dornier and an ICG helicopter are also in the search operation.

Fatal Collisions