The captain of a Singapore-flagged ship, suspected to have collided with a boat off Kerala coast killing five fishermen, was arrested and brought to the shore in Chennai on Tuesday.

"He (Gordon Charless Pereira) has been arrested and brought to the shore. He will be produced in a local court before being taken to Kerala," said Inspector General of Ernakulam Range K Padmakumar.

A team of the Kerala police arrested Pereira onboard the ship M V Prabu Daya, currently anchored at the outer anchorage of Chennai port, a day after the Madras high court turned down his plea that the police hold the inquiry on board the vessel.

The court had on March 9 ordered that the vessel be detained till further orders on a civil suit filed by the owner of the fishing vessel Don-I which sank in the March 1 collision, seeking Rs 1 crore relief.

Two fishermen were killed in the collision while three others went missing. Bodies of three other fishermen and the wreckage of the boat were later recovered by divers.