NAGAPATTINAM: Five fishermen all hailing from Ramanathapuram district along with one boat owner belonging to Sivaganga district were rescued by the Coastal Security Group (CSG) personnel off the coast of Nagapattinam on Monday morning. The six member crew after purchasing a fresh built fishing boat at Nagapattinam was stranded in a mid-sea location as their new boat had developed a technical snag while returning to Thondi fishing harbour in Ramanathapuram district.
According to CSG sources, the owner of newly built boat was identified as Lawrence (31) son of Irudhayaraj, hailing from Karaikudi town in Sivaganga district. The boat owner after purchasing a fresh built Fibre Reinforced Plastic (FRP) boat from a private boat building yard in Nambiyar Nagar fishing hamlet in Nagapattinam was said to be returning to Ramanathapuram coast. Apparently, the boat owner Lawrence along with five fishermen identified as Jesu (61), Mariya Viswasan (54), Charles (45), Jayapalan (50), and Anthony Sandhyagu (34), all hailing from Karangadu village in Thiruvadanai taluk of Ramanathapuram district had ventured in their new FRP fishing boat along the Nagapattinam coastline on Monday morning.
At about 9.50 am, the propeller blades of the new FRP boat was said to have detached from the engine axle and thereby leaving the five fishermen and their boat owner stranded in a mid-sea location approximately at 1.5 nautical miles off Nagapattinam port. Immediately, the stranded crew members made a distress call to 1093 fishermen helpline maintained by Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group. The control room of CSG, Chennai upon receiving the distress call had alerted the Nagapattinam CSG, who in-turn rushed to the rescue of stranded fishermen with the help of geographical coordinates. Upon spotting the stranded fishermen and the new boat, they were subsequently ferried back to the Nagapattinam port and their snag hit FRP boat was also towed by the marine patrol vessel. CSG sources said that the rescued fishermen and boat owner would be sent back to Ramanathapuram coast after rectifying the snag in their new boat.