KOCHI: A fleet of 12 inboard fishing vessels, which were moored at Vypeen Kalamukku harbour, drifted into the sea as the ropes tied to the latches gave away at 11.45am on Monday. Only one boat was moored at the harbour while the others were tied to each other. The inboard fishing vessels are large country crafts with a length of 75 to 80m. The vessel can carry 50 to 60 fishermen.
“The vessels are very strong and would have sunk in the shipping channel due to turbulence. This would have affected the functioning of the port. We approached the vessels from behind in our twin-engine marine ambulance and pulled them to safety. Later, the boat workers came and brought the vessels to the harbour,” said Vypeenn fisheries station assistant director P Aneesh.
“The fishermen had gone to their home after mooring the vessels at the harbour. As soon as we got information, we alerted the boat drivers who rushed to the spot in country boats and brought the vessels to the harbour,” said Chandrabose, a fisherman. Each inboard vessel costs Rs 1.25 crore and carries fishing nets worth Rs 5 lakh. The intervention of the fisheries staff saved around a dozen of Chinese nets at Vypeen. However, the drifting boats damaged the stake nets installed by the fishermen in the backwaters. Marine Enforcement head guard Ragesh, marine ambulance captain George, chief engineer Stanley and sea guards toiled hard for two hours to save the fishing vessels and averted a mishap.