Compensate fishers for loss of livelihood following shipwreck: fishers’ forum

Fishers along the Kerala coast should be compensated for the loss of livelihood following the shipwreck off the coast of Kerala as the Directorate General of Shipping and the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) have pointed to a possible technical failure in the vessel’s ballast-water management, which in turn caused the ship to tilt over 20 degrees and sink, Charles George, State president of the Kerala Matsyathozhilali Aikya Vedi (TUCI), a conclave of fishers’ organisations, has said.

The fact that the vessel that remained slanted on Saturday sank within a day pointed to its lack of fitness, seaworthiness and stability. It needed to be probed whether the ship’s motorised pumps were functioning effectively. In addition, stakeholders at the Vizhinjam port and the MMD should clarify on the contents of the containers, especially since fishing had been banned within 20 nautical miles off the shipwreck site, he said in a statement issued here on Thursday.

Fishers unions and the Fisheries department had cited the need to curb ships from operating within 50 nautical miles off the Kerala coast, to prevent possible collision between ships that mostly travelled in the north-south direction and the fishing vessels that operated mostly in the east-west direction. But this was not being adhered to, although trade unions in the sector had laid siege to the Kochi harbour in 2020. The shipwreck on Sunday “less than 15 nautical miles” off Thottapilly showed that the distance norm was not adhered to, Mr. George said.

In this situation, the forum demanded the arrest of the ship’s captain. The ship’s sinking and curbs on fishing had affected the livelihood of tens of hundreds of fishers. That July 3 had been set as the deadline for completing the clean-up process was yet another cause for concern. The State government should prevail upon the Centre, international agencies and the ship’s owner firm to roll out measures to compensate fishers, he added.

The forum also sought steps to solve the issues of people affected by rampant sea erosion. The fishers’ organisations had decided to speed up the cleaning of the coast where containers and other debris from the vessel were washed in and to host ‘fish festivals’, Mr George said.

Published - May 29, 2025 08:33 pm IST