THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “It felt like every time we rowed a kilometre, we were being dragged four km back into the sea. That was how strong the wind was,” said Robinson, his eyes still filled with fear as he narrated his two-day ordeal at sea. He was among four fishermen who were rescued and brought back to shore on Saturday evening after their boat went missing off Vizhinjam coast.
“The strong winds wrecked both our engines: One was lost at sea, and the other split in two. We tied the broken pieces together to survive. We had just a day’s food on board. For three days, the rain was relentless,” added Robinson.
The fishermen had left Vizhinjam harbour at 2 pm on Thursday. Just two hours later, the weather warning arrived. But by then, Robinson, 62, Davidson, 34, Dasan, 45, and Sabariyar, 52, were already in deeper waters.
They were stranded 35 nautical miles off the Vizhinjam coast after their engine failed. They were supposed to return by 6 am on Friday, but there was no communication. At 10.30 am on Friday, Robinson managed to contact his son, Robin, and informed him that they had lost an engine and all their fishing gear.
According to Robin, the initial response from the fisheries department was disappointing. Despite sending their location, help didn’t arrive. So they took matters into their own hands and arranged four men--Job, Winson, Shekhar, and Aloshiyus--to go out searching. However, the missing fishermen’s position had changed, and the rescue team could not locate them.
When the first team failed and returned with the news, a second team, including Robin, set out at 5 pm on Friday to the updated location. But, that too ended in vain. Both search teams made it back to shore by 7 am on Saturday. It was only by 10 am on Saturday that the missing team reported being near Kanyakumari, adding that their makeshift engine might only last another hour. This triggered coordinated action, involving the fisheries department, Coast Guard, and police.
Ward councillor Paniyattil Johny received a phone message that helped trace the fishermen’s location. He passed this on to Vizhinjam coastal police. SHO Vipin and SI K G Prasad informed the fisheries control room.
A team led by fisheries assistant director S Rajesh, along with marine enforcement rescue lifeguards, departed in a search vessel. Coastal police also joined the mission aboard a Coast Guard vessel.
Though they only had a day’s supply of food, the stored up water would have lasted them three days. By 11 am on Saturday, their boat was located. The rescue team provided light refreshments and transported them back to Vizhinjam in a smaller boat. After health check-ups at the Vizhinjam Community Health Centre, they returned home.
Meanwhile, a second group of stranded fishermen, comprising Joseph, Johny, Mathews, and Muthappan, reached Kolachal harbour in Tamil Nadu. They had been aboard a second missing boat. These men had clung to their overturned vessel for two nights before being spotted by a larger ship, which relayed their position.
On Friday night, all four were safely brought to Kolachal. “All the rescued men are in satisfactory health. We are arranging for their return by Saturday night,” said Johny.