JOIN USThis is an awesome story of a drowning fisherman who swam for six hours before being rescued by a passing Liberian merchant vessel and the New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) authorities, on Thursday night.
The fisherman Nagaraj, a native of Tamil Nadu, accidentally fell overboard his fishing boat 'Krishna Maruthi' without the other crew members noticing the accident. The mishap occurred at around 10 am on August 16, nearly 20 nautical miles off Panambur beach in Mangaluru. A Liberian vessel which was passing through the shipping lanes off the west coast of India rescued Nagaraj from drowning.
The crew of 'Krishna Maruthi' noticed that Nagaraj was missing only much later and alerted other boats still at sea; and the police. A search for Nagaraj by boats still at sea, went in vain. Meanwhile, NMPT received a specific message of a man overboard.
Captain S R Patnaik, NMPT Deputy Conservator, then noted that the Indian Coast Guard vessel which was too far, might be too late in reaching where Nagaraj was.
So he took a snap decision to guide the passing merchant ship 'M T Pacific Lagoon' flying Liberian colours (on its way to Port Fujairah, UAE) to the location where fisherman Nagaraj was. The Captain of 'M T Pacific Lagoon' obliged NMPT, and located Nagaraj at about 5 pm using the location shared by NMPT, and rescued him.
The Liberian vessel then took a detour and came to the NMPT pier. Here Nagaraj was shifted to NMPT Pilot vessel, and given first aid.
The NMPT had been proactive in avoiding disasters off the west coast of India by giving unhindered access to all fishing vessels to the port and also earned the goodwill of the fishing community of Dakshina Kannada district, said Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project CEO Yathish Baikampady.