Missing trawler case: Search at the depth of 60 meters too: minister

Team Udayavani, Feb 5, 2019, 2:04 AM IST

Udupi: The navy has conducted search at the depth of 30 meters for the mysteriously missing deep sea trawler ‘Suvarna Tribhuja’  which went missing along with its crew of 7 fishermen after it left on fishing expedition from Malpe fisheries port. Till now our attempts have been useful. In the next phase, search will be conducted at the depth of 60 meters, said Udupi district in-charge minister Dr Jayamala, addressing the reporters on Monday.

There are doubts regarding the timing when the navy ship suffered damage and when Suvarna Tribhuja’ went missing and other things. During the search, the navy found a wreckage of 23 meter long boat on the sea bed. But since it is at a depth, it is not clearly visible. Hence it is unsure if the wreckage is of some other boat which had sunk here much earlier. Since Suvarna Tribhuja is 24 meters long, the wreckage does not match with the missing deep sea trawler. Under proper inspection our doubts will be resolved, said the minister.

May the reports become true

There are several reports spreading around claiming that the missing fishermen along with the deep sea trawler are safe somewhere. The families of the missing fishermen are still hopeful of their return. It is our wish that all these reports become true, informed Dr Jayamala.

The trawler had left the Malpe fisheries port on a fishing expedition at 11pm on Dec 13. Until the late night of Dec 15, the family members were in contact with the fishermen. Then all forms of contact with fishermen was lost. The boat had a crew of 7 fishermen of whom, 2 were from Udupi district and 5 were from Uttara Kannada district.