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Udupi : Search operations are still on for the missing fishing boat Suvarna Tribhuja with eight fishermen on board which went missing off Goa coast on December 15, said Yashpal Suvarna, President of D.K. and Udupi district Sahakari Fish Marketing Federation.

Speaking to media persons here on Friday, Yashpal Suvarna said that the fishing boat left for fishing from Malpe Fishing Harbour on December 13. The last communication from the boat was on December 15. Since then the search operations are on for the missing fishing boat.

He said that the Coast Guard had launched a search for the fishing boat, there had been no conclusive information about it till date. The fishermen community strongly believes that this case where pirates or terrorists have hijacked the boat and have held these fishermen as hostages, he said.

Yashpal Suvarna said that such fishing boats normally took ration of food and water for a fortnight/ The missing boat would have run out of food supply by now. It was hard to speculate if the boat had been hijacked or had met with an accident. Since the fishing boat was made out of steel, its debris need not float which such an incident had not taken in the past, he said.

He said that since the boat had gone missing off Goa coast, the matter had already been brought to the notice of the Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and D V Sadananda Gowda. Sitharaman had directed the Coast Guard and Indian Navy to search for the missing boat. A team of 15 fishermen had already left from Malpe and was coordinating with the Coastal Security Police in the search for the missing fishermen, he said.

Yaspal Suvarna said that Fisheries Minister Venkatarao Nadagowda should have visited the families of the missing fishermen. It was also need that all coastal states had a single coordination system. This would make it easier for them to track any boat. The Coastal Security Police in the state consisted mostly of police staff from other districts. They had little idea of the sea. Therefore, there should be reservation of 10% for youth from the coastal districts in the Coastal Security Police as they had better idea of sea and its conditions, he said.

He said in order to recognition of fishermen, the state uniform is needed. So that one can recognize the fishermen state belongs to and it will helpful in the long run whatsoever, he said