Boat ‘Suvarna Tribhuja’ Crashed into Ship? Navy continues Search Operations using SONAR Technology
Udupi: 34 days since the fishing boat Suvarna Tribhuja went missing off the coast of Goa, the search for the missing fishermen from Malpe, continues without any concrete evidence about the fate of the vessel. There is strong suspicion that the boat might have been hit by a ship. In this regard, the Navy started searching the area near Sindhudurg in Maharashtra using sonar technology to check if Suvarna Tribhuja had sunk.
The plastic containers that have been found are suspected to belong to the fishing boat. It is suspected that an incident occurred on December 15 between 2 am – 6 am, but what actually happened is not clear. Sources said that on the same day, the Navy had arrived and checked with the fishermen for any boat accident. The incident is suspected to have taken place near Malvan.
The vessel may have probably sunk, but the fishermen suspect that some miscreants from the Malwan region may have kidnapped the crew. In case of kidnap, the challenge would be to hide a huge boat for so long when the state government, central government, Goa and Maharashtra governments are working on the case along with the local fishermen. There are no leads indicating a kidnap.
The boat had gone for deep sea fishing on December 13, and the fishermen had lost contact with the family members on December 15. The complaint of seven fishermen missing along with the Suvarna Tribhuja boat had been lodged on December 22 in the Malpe Police Station. As soon as the complaint was lodged the police had started investigating on all angles.
The police department had also formed 6 teams along with the fishermen and started the search operations in Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala Coast. Each police team consisted of two – three fishermen. The teams visited all suspected areas and conducted investigations. But until today there are no positive results. All the police teams have already returned to Udupi district.
On January 17 the state chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar held a meeting in Bengaluru with the Malpe Fishermen Association along with the officers of the Navy, DC’s and police officers. The Navy officials are still searching for the missing boat, Suvarna Tribhuja.
During the meeting, the officers of the Navy had given a detailed explanation of the search operations conducted by them to trace the missing boat with the help of ships and helicopters. The Navy which started the search operations on December 22 will continue its search for the missing boat with the help of sonar technology to check if the missing boat had sunk. ISRO has got a picture of a group of boats near Sindhudurg on December 15. But it was not possible to spot the missing boat among them.