Missing fishing boat is not hijacked, says Udupi SP

The search teams engaged for tracing missing boat ‘Suvarna Thribhuja’ have concluded that the fishing boat has not been hijacked, Udupi Superintendent of Police Lakshman Nimbargi said on Friday.

The SP told media persons that the fishing boat ventured into the sea on December 13 and after covering three kilometres the boat captain discovered technical faults in the engine. He immediately turned the boat back to the harbour. After repair, the boat ventured into deep-sea fishing. However, in order to catch up with other fishing boats, the captain had accelerated the boat’s speed. This might have resulted in the explosion of the engine,” the SP suspected.

The boat lost the wireless and mobile connection from midnight of December 15. The SP said that sonar technology was being used in the latest search operation.

The investigation began with an accident and hijack theory. The chances of a hijack had proved to be slim based on the results of the search operations.

“There are all possibilities of the boat being involved in an accident. The police are also confirming reports of damage caused to a Cochin ship after it collided with Suvarna Thribhuja, the SP added.