Coast Guard vessel ramming Goa fishing trawler being probed

The Indian Coast Guard has initiated a Board of Inquiry in the accident involving its offshore patrol vessel and a fishing trawler off Goa coast which left one fishermen dead and five missing yesterday.
"The ship involved in the accident was our vessel ICGS Vaibhav. We have initiated a Board of Inquiry," Indian Coast Guard Goa region commander S D Bhanot told PTI today.
"Two naval ships have been conducting search and rescue operations since yesterday. They have recovered one body," Bhanot said, adding, five are still missing.
A fishing trawler called 'Sea Messiah', which had left South Goa's Cutbona jetty, had capsized off 13 nautical miles from Agonda beach in Canacona taluka yesterday at 4.30 am.

The trawler had 23 crew members on board, of which the body of one was found in the rescue operation, while four are still missing.
The rest of the crew was rescued by another trawler fishing nearby, five hours after the accident when they were marooned at sea.

Coast Guard vessel ICGS Vaibhav which was involved in the accident is a 90-metre offshore class patrol vessel.
Meanwhile, the Cutbona Boat Owners' Association (CBOA), a union of trawler operators, demanded here today that a police case be registered against the pilot who steered ICGS Vaibhav.
"Commander of the ICG has admitted that the vessel involved belongs to their fleet. A police case should be registered and the vessel's pilot should be arrested," CBOA President Patrick D'Silva demanded.

He said that police action is necessary as the trawler was illuminated well enough to be spotted by a nearby ship.