KOCHI: The deep sea divers of the Navy on Friday recovered three bodies of fishermen who went missing in sea off Mangaluru coast after their boat collided with a ship on Monday night. INS Nireekshak, the diving support vessel of the Southern Naval Command, alongside four patrol vessels of the Navy and Coast Guard has been scouring the sea around 51 nautical miles off Mangaluru coast for the 9 missing fishermen.
The Navy had been coordinating the search and rescue operations along with Coast Guard for the past four days. The Coast Guard had also deployed a surveillance aircraft for the mission. INS Nireekshak shifted the three bodies to Mangaluru on Friday night and will return to the spot on Saturday night to continue the search. Fishing boat IFB Dabah collided with Singapore-flagged cargo ship APL LE Havre around 2 am on Tuesday.
The fishing boat owned by Mamantakath Jaffer of Beypore had set off for fishing from Beypore harbour on Sunday. There were 14 workers in the boat. Two fishermen were rescued by the crew of the ship. Three bodies were recovered by Coast Guard and the crew of the ship on Tuesday. Still six fishermen of the ill-fated boat are missing.