In a mishap off south Goa-Karwar coast, two fishermen died and four others went missing after a ship collided with a fishing trawler early Thursday morning.
"We have rescued 23 crew members of trawler 'Sea Messiah' while four are still missing and bodies of two fishermen were fished out in the evening," said a Coast Guard official, who added that incident happened 47 nautical miles off Karwar coast.
While fishermen claimed that it was an Indian Navy vessel with weapons mounted which hit the trawler, Navy sources said no naval vessel was present in the radius of 100 nautical miles at the time.
One of the crew members said that distress call could not be given out because the impact broke the trawler, which had left Cutbona fishing jetty in south Goa on Wednesday night, into two.
Krishna Shivpundi, a crew member, said the trawler was illuminated well enough for any ship to notice it when the accident happened.
The trawler crew members were in the water for almost five hours, with safety jackets on, before Coast Guard came to rescue.
Navy sources said Coast Guard ships patrol off South Goa, and an inquiry will find out the identity of the ship involved in the collision. Directorate General of Shipping is also trying to zero in on the ship, sources said.
Photograph: Reuters
