On Tuesday evening, a distressing incident occurred in the waters off Kodiyakarai, Tamil Nadu, when a Sri Lankan navy craft collided with a fibre boat carrying four fishermen. The impact of the collision capsized the boat, leaving the fishermen injured and trapped beneath the overturned hull.
The injured fishermen were identified as K Sakthivel (40), R Devaraj (32), S Karthikeyan (46), and C Sathish (36), all hailing from the Cherudhur fishing village in Nagapattinam District. According to sources, the fishermen were engaged in fishing activities approximately five nautical miles southeast of Kodiyakarai when the high-speed Sri Lankan navy craft struck their boat around 5 pm.
The force of the collision overturned the fibre boat, trapping the fishermen underwater. Despite their injuries, they managed to cling to the capsized vessel. Adding to the distress, the Sri Lankan navy personnel reportedly threatened the fishermen before departing.
The four injured fishermen were left stranded in the sea for an hour until other fishermen, returning from their own fishing expeditions, came to their rescue. They brought the injured fishermen to shore in Cherudhur on Wednesday morning, along with the overturned boat. Medical attention was immediately provided to the fishermen at the Government Headquarters Hospital in Nagapattinam.
This incident resulted in significant losses for the fishermen. They reported losing approximately 600 kg of nets, GPS devices, walkie-talkies, four mobile phones, and fish valued at Rs 6 lakh.
The fishermen’s community in the district is deeply affected by these recurrent attacks by the Sri Lankan navy. They are appealing to the authorities to take immediate and effective measures to prevent such incidents from happening again. The community is calling for increased patrolling by the Indian Coast Guard in international waters, as well as the provision of transformer equipment to fibre boat fishermen. This equipment is intended to prevent fishermen from inadvertently crossing the maritime boundary line and becoming vulnerable to these incidents.
