9 missing as boat collides with ship near Karnataka coast

Ship hits boat off Mangaluru coast

At least three fishermen were killed and nine others are missing after a suspected foreign container ship rammed into their fishing boat 43 nautical miles off Mangaluru coast on Monday night.

The boat IFB Rabah, owned by Mamantakath Jaffar, had set off sail from Beypore on Sunday night with 14 migrant fishermen on board. The boat overturned after being hit by the ship around midnight. The Coast Guard brought ashore two rescued fishermen to Mangaluru by Tuesday afternoon. The health condition of the two rescued fishermen are stable and they don’t have any major injuries. “In a swift sea-air #SAR operation @IndiaCoastGuard deployed 03 #ICG ships & aircraft to search for 14 fishermen of IFB Rabah approx 43 NM west #NewMangalore #today. 02 crew found, search for other crew in progress,” the Indian Coast Guard tweeted. The fishermen belonged to Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Odisha states. The boat was badly damaged in the accident.

Coast Guard ships and helicopters have reached the site and intensified the search for the missing fishermen.