4 Kerala tourists, miss return boat, forced to spend night at Island off Udupi coast

Four tourists from Kerala were forced to spend Saturday night at St Mary's Island, off the coast of Malpe in Udipi after they missed the last boat to return to mainland due to the negligence of the boat operator, police said.

Justin (34), Jose (28) Harish (17) and Sheeja (33) were stranded at the island and were brought back to the city on Sunday morning.

Udupi Superintendent of Police (SP) Nisha James told ANI that the tourists went from Malpe to St Mary's Island on a boat at 12:30 pm on Saturday.

"The last return boat from the Island is around 6:45 pm and they missed it. Once the local police got the information, arrangements were made to send a boat early morning and they were brought back," she said.

All four tourists have now returned to their home in Kochi, according to the police.

"No case has been registered since no crime is involved. But it has exposed the negligence of the boat operator. We have taken it up with Malpe Beach Development Authority, which manages the boat operations so that such incidents are not repeated," the police officer said.