VIJAYAWADA: The Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police have intensified their search using two helicopters near Kakinada coast to trace the four fishermen, who went missing in the Bay of Bengal near Campbell Peta, Machilipatnam from Saturday.
Joint Collector R Mahesh Kumar said that Navy officials conducted a search for the second consecutive day till the evening using a chopper. However, they couldn't trace the boat. The search will resume on Thursday.
The two boats -- Priyadarshini and Veera -- belonging to the Coast Guard will continue the search, he said. Former Minister Perni Venkataramaiah visited the houses of the missing fishermen and assured them of all necessary support from the government.
Search was also held with speed boats plying between Kakinada-Antarvedi and Antarvedi-Machilipatnam, he said. The fishermen have been identified as V Chinna Mastan (51), R Chinna Nanchariah (64), Ch Narasimha Rao (51) and M Venkateswara Rao (44).
They ventured into the sea in two small boats on July 2. The fishermen, who reached Antarvedi, were on their way back to Machilipatnam. The last information came from them at 7.30 pm on July 3.