80 trawlers missing in cyclone-hit Arabian Sea

Ahmedabad, Nov 11: Around 80 fishing trawlers are missing in cyclone-hit Arabian Sea, organisations of fisherman along India's west coast said on Wednesday, Nov 11.

"Fifty fishing boats with a total estimated complement of about 500 fishermen are still out at sea and are on the path of the cyclone headed this way," Gopal Tandel, president of the Daman Machimar Sangh (fishermen's association) said.

Daman is a small coastal enclave on the Gujarat coast.

"There were about 80 boats out fishing but about 30 of them have either returned or are on their way back," Tandel added.

According to Administrator of the union territory of Daman, Satya Gopal, the Coast Guard authorities had sent out a Dornier aircraft to warn fishing boats to return.

He said that over the last three days, special warnings were being put out by the administration advising fishermen against venturing out to sea.

Goa Coast Guard Commandant N Saxena said, "Our patrol vessels are already on the lookout for the trawlers. We have also pressed a lookout aircraft into the operation, which will scan the sea off Goa in search of the missing trawlers."

OneIndia News