World News | Indian Fishing Boat Sinks in Sri Lankan Water After Colliding with Country's Naval Vessel
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. An Indian fishing boat allegedly trespassing the International Maritime Boundary Line sank in Sri Lankan waters after colliding with a Navy vessel of the island nation and a search and rescue operation was underway for the missing fishermen, the Navy said here on Tuesday.
Colombo, Jan 19 (PTI) An Indian fishing boat allegedly trespassing the International Maritime Boundary Line sank in Sri Lankan waters after colliding with a Navy vessel of the island nation and a search and rescue operation was underway for the missing fishermen, the Navy said here on Tuesday.
The Indian boat sank in Sri Lankan waters about 8 nautical miles within the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) northwest of Delft Island on Monday.
Sri Lanka Navy said it had launched a search and rescue operation for the sunken Indian fishing boat and its fishermen.
It said the “Navy units on patrol carried out an operation to seize Indian fishing trawlers poaching in Sri Lankan waters trespassing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL)," after observing more than 50 trawlers.
As the operation was going on, one of the Indian fishing trawlers tried to evade the scene, making it collide with a Sri Lankan Navy vessel.
"The collision also caused damages to the SLN Fast Attack Craft which was subsequently brought to Kankesanthurai harbour safely for repair work," the statement said.
The Navy then commenced a search and rescue operation for the fishermen on the sunken trawler. An unknown number of fishermen were missing.
The Navy said that it is quite evident that Indian fishing trawlers poaching in Sri Lankan waters were resisting their arrests.
Relevant Indian authorities have also been informed about the development and an investigation into the incident is currently underway.
Fishermen from both countries are arrested frequently for inadvertently trespassing into each other''s waters.
During his five-day visit to India in February last year, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed to resolve the long-festering fishermen issue with a "humane approach".
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)