KOCHI/KOZHIKODE: Three fishermen were killed when a cargo ship collided with a fishing boat off the Mangaluru coast on Monday night.
According to sources, two fishermen were rescued alive by the crew of the ship while nine others are missing after the collision. The rescued workers are Vel Murugan of Colachel in Tamil Nadu and Sunil Das of West Bengal.
According to Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association vice president Haneefa Haji, there were 14 workers in the boat of which 7 were from Colachel and 7 from Odisha and West Bengal.
"The workers had joined duty only on Sunday. The boat set off for fishing from Beypore harbour on Sunday and collided with the ship at around midnight on Monday," he said.
The ill-fated boat IFB Rabbal was owned by Mamantakathu Jaffer of Beypore. According to sources, APL Le Havre, a container ship with Singapore registration, collided with the fishing boat.
The crew of the ship launched a rescue operation immediately after they noticed the incident and saved five workers, of whom three died.
The Navy and Coast Guard have rushed to the sport and launched a search for the missing fishermen. The incident occurred around 60 nautical miles off the Mangaluru coast.