7 missing Andhra fishermen return home after 25 days

Seven fishermen from Andhra Pradesh, who went missing at sea early this month, safely returned home on Friday, officials said.

The fishermen from Dr B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, who had ventured into the sea for fishing on August 3 and subsequently went missing, reached Kakinada.

The fishermen, who were found safe near Shankarpur fishing harbour off the West Bengal coast on Wednesday, had a happy reunion with their families after 25 days.

Officials brought the fishermen back from West Bengal; MLA V. Kondababu, MLC Rajashekhar and district officials received the fishermen.

The fishermen set sail on a mechanised boat from Odalrevu fish landing point on August 3 but lost contact with their families four days later after they went deep-sea fishing off the Andhra coast in search of tuna.

The fishermen were scheduled to return on August 12, and as they did not come back, families became anxious and approached the authorities.

A massive search operation was launched in the Bay of Bengal for the missing fishermen.

On Tuesday, the search operation was intensified with the deployment of 15 Coast Guard vessels and four helicopters.

An extensive search operation was conducted in coordination with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), the Navy, and other relevant departments, with support from the Central government.

On Wednesday afternoon, local fishermen near the Shankarpur fishing harbour off the West Bengal coast found the boat with the missing fishermen on board.

They gave a cellphone to the missing fishermen, who spoke to their family members in Andhra Pradesh, confirming that they were safe.

The fishermen said that they were stranded at sea after the boat engine developed a technical snag.

The fishermen on board the missing boat were identified as Kopanathi Ramakrishna, Kollati Yesudasu, Palepu Santa Rao, Kollati Srinubabu, Karri Rambabu, Sangani Tatarao and Kataadi Satish Kumar.

The fishermen said they survived without food for more than three days in the sea before reaching the West Bengal coast.