One dead, six missing as tug boat capsizes in rough sea off Mangaluru

Mangaluru, May 16: One person died and six others were missing after their tug boat that was assisting a ship capsized 10 nautical miles off the coast here.

Nine people were on the boat that left New Mangalore Port on Friday to carry out maintenance work at the single point mooring facility, which is located 17 km from the port.

The boat was caught in the rough seas in adverse weather conditions and capsized while they were returning to the shore on Saturday, police sources said.

The body of one crew member was found near Kaup beach in Udupi district, while two others were rescued.

A search is on for the rest of the crew members, police sources said.

The damaged boat was found at Katipatna near Padubidri beach in Udupi district.

The tug boat was contracted by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) for its single point mooring facility.

In a statement, MRPL said the tug vessel, ''Alliance'', with nine men on board faced distress while assisting the company in cargo unloading at its single point mooring facility.

The company''s cargo operation was completed on Friday and the vessel was supposed to return on the same day.

However, it started only on Saturday morning and had to face distress, the statement said.