A group of 18 fishermen from the coastal area of Uttan, who were stranded deep into the Arabian Sea as their boat developed a major technical snag, were rescued by another boat and safely brought back to the shore on Sunday afternoon despite the rough sea conditions.
With 17 khalasis (helpers) and tandel (captain/owner)- Alexander Douglas Belu on board the fishing vessel- God-Will had ventured into the deep sea three days ago in the new fishing season which started on 15, August, following a 75-day annual fishing ban (conservation period).
In view of the squally wind and rough sea conditions stemming from the rain conditions, an alert was issued by the authorities to fishing boat owners to avoid venturing into the sea and messages were relayed to those who were already sailing on voyage asking them to return to the shores. Captain of the God-Will boat pre-maturely aborted the fishing operations mid-way and was retreating back to the shores of Patan-Bunder empty handed. However, the fishing vessel encountered a technical snag after the propeller apparently got detached from the engine leaving the fishermen stranded in the deep sea.
"After receiving information about the stranded fishing vessel at around 7 am, we tried contacting the coast guard, police and fisheries department for help.” said fishing community leader-Bernard D’mello.
Fortunately, fishermen on-board another vessel-Mother India picked up their distress message and courageously reached the spot and safely towed the stranded boat to the shores despite rough sea conditions at around 3 pm.
An integral part of the boat engine, propeller is a rounded blade that rotates to move a boat forward by pushing water behind the boat. The propeller's blades are shaped to create a pressure difference between the two sides of the blade as it rotates through the water. The local fishing community lamented the helplessness shown by the authorities towards rescuing the boat at a time when the lives of 18 fishermen was at stake.
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