No boat in distress approached us: NMPT

Mangalore, November 20: New Mangalore Port Trust Chairman P Tamilvanan claimed that there was no boat had arrived to the New Mangalore Port on September 14.

This contradicts the claim by Vincent, the sole survivor of the 'Ocean Fisheries-2' boat tragedy that NMPT authorities had refused to anchor the boat in distress in the Port,

Speaking to the media persons on Monday, the NMPT Chairman ruled out Vincent's words and said, “the news that NMPT refused to give permission for anchoring the boat in distress in the Port is not acceptable and far from truth.”

He said that the NMPT is ready to face any inquiry in this regard. “On the previous day of the boat tragedy, the NMPT had anchored two boats from outside and there was no reason for the Port authorities to reject the plea of the fishermen in 'Ocean Fisheries-2', if at all the fishermen had asked for help,” he said.

The authorities from the Coast Guard, Fisheries and other departments who were present at the meet too washed their hands off, as none of the officials affirmed the statement of the survivor of the tragedy that the crew members of the sunken boat had sent distress message to them.

Recalling the incident, Coast Guard Commandant Rajendra Sigh Safal informed that he had received a call informing him about the boat in distress on September 15 at 3 am, following which he made arrangements for deploying an aircraft from Kochi to search for the boat and the search operation began at 5.30 am. “That was the minimum time required for making arrangements for the aircraft and we could not do anything more,” he said.

P Tamilvanan said that going by the words of Coast Guard staff, the boat in distress was stuck in the sea almost 30 nautical miles away from New Mangalore Port when the boat members sought help.

“When such was the situation, how can one believe that the boat had approached NMPT authorities seeking help on the same day?” he asked.

Port Security Committee

In a new development, Port Security Committee has been formed consisting of the NMPT Chairman, Mangalore Assistant Commissioner, Coast Guard Commandant, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Fisheries Department Deputy Director and others. The committee is scheduled to hold meetings once in three moths. The committee held an official meeting on Monday to discuss the matters pertaining to the security of the Port.

NMPT Chairman said that henceforth NMPT authorities will shelter the boats in distress in the Port without following the usual procedure of seeking assistance from the Fisheries Department. “The men in the boat will be taken care first and then the Port authorities would contact the Fisheries Department to receive the security clearance,” he informed.