Kochi: Relatives of the nine fishermen who went missing after the ship-boat collision five days ago have asked the government to take necessary steps to recover their bodies.
They alleged that the search operations were not active and it needed to be more effective.
“It’s been five days since the incident took place. Bodies are expected to come out from the deep sea in a maximum of three days,” said Fr Antony Claret who came from Ramanthurai along with the relatives of the missing fishermen.
“Without a doubt, we can confirm that the bodies of our relatives are stuck somewhere deep inside, as they were sleeping inside the boat cabin at the time of the collision and when the boat sank.”
Fr Johnson Pankiyath, who also came along with them, said they didn't get enough importance. “The officials of those including Navy, Coast Guard and police were hugely involved in the flood relief works. We know the magnitude of that incident. But the government should also focus on this as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sunil Das, father of Bikas Das who went for fishing on Monday night with a crew of fourteen, said they are not asking for any favour. “We don’t want anything from the state or Union government. We want to see our brothers, please find them,” he said with tears welling up.
Maliankara native Suresh, the brother of Siju, who was the driver of the fishing vessel Oceanic which crushed in the mid-sea and who went missing with the other crew members, said that he dined with the family late in Monday night and went for fishing.
“He never came back. But we expect him back now also. There were promises from political leaders and concerned officials that they
would soon find out our kin,” he said.
Meanwhile, Fr Antony Claret said that they are not going to leave Kerala until recovering bodies of their relatives.
“We are not criticising the authorities, but it’s been five days, and we are longing for our brothers,” he said.
Satheesh Sivan, the boat owner’ son, was also present with them.
“Some people suddenly disappeared from our lives. It is too saddening that it happened in our boat," he said.
“The family condition of these people is deplorable. We want the government to take necessary steps.”
Three persons - Yoganathan, Manikodi, and Yakob - were killed and nine – Bikas Das, Rajesh, Salu, Dinesh, Balan, Selvaraj, Arun, Paulson, and Siju - went missing after Tuesday's collision.
The fishing vessel Oceanic was hit by an unidentified ship, 27 nautical miles north-west off Chettuva barmouth in Thrissur.
A fishing boat, Antony, reportedly recovered the body of the fourth man and was being brought to the harbour.
Body of one fisherman found
The body of one fisherman, Siju, entangled in a fishing net has been recovered by fishing boat Antony on Saturday evening making the number of remaining missing fishermen to eight. The body has been brought to Munambam fishing harbor late at night and handed over to police.
According to officials, the body was located close to where the collision took place. A Naval ship Sunayana is also in the area searching for the remaining eight. Meanwhile, with the preliminary inspection failing to establish its involvement in the collision beyond doubt, the authorities are going on a detailed inspection of the oil tanker MV Desh Shakti.
Officials said a team headed by Circle Inspector T.R. Santosh of Fort Kochi coastal police station and officials of Mercantile Marine Department on Saturday left for Mangaluru to inspect the vessel again.
