Kasargod, November 2: The body of one of the five missing sailors of ship MT Pratibha Cauvery, which got grounded by cyclone Nilam, was found in the sea waters near Chennai today.
The body is yet to be identified.
Meanwhile, there is no trace of the other four missing sailors even two days after the ship hit ground near the Besant Nagar beach in Chennai on Wednesday.
Two sailors from Kasargod district identified as Joman Joseph (23) and P C Krishnachandra (22) also on board the ill-fated ship. Joseph had been working in the ship since one-and-a-half-year while Krishnachandra had recently joined.
The five sailors went missing after a lifeboat they were using to leave the ship capsized. The death toll in the tragedy is two now.
Coast Guard helicopters had on Thursday rescued 15 trapped sailors including Joy Herman Corda, a resident of Kalathur in Udupi district, from the ship. The initial rescue operations on the day of the cyclone were carried out by fishermen.
When the cyclone made its landfall, the ship's captain had sent out a distress call, but got no response. The Coast Guard and the Tamil Nadu government's Coastal Security Group did not come for rescue, citing gusty winds and bad weather.
A Coast Guard official said: "We do not monitor ships at ports, not even on a cyclone day. We rescue only when there is a call."
Chennai Port officials said the ship's captain had ignored instructions to leave for safe waters following the cyclone alert.
Comments
Add new comment