Fishing boats pull back ferry drifting towards open sea

A major mishap was today averted after a ferry carrying 40 passengers drifted towards the open sea from the harbour mouth in Fort Kochi following a technical snag before it was stopped by a fishing boat in the estuary itself and safely brought to the shore with the help of other vessels, police said.
All passengers, including four women and a child, could be safely brought back to the shore this morning, police said.
Fort Kochi police said Captain of the ferry (junkar in local parlance) carrying passengers and vehicles between Fort Kochi and Vypin went out of control soon after it started its first service from Fort Kochi early this morning.

It developed a technical snag after its 'shaft craft' was hit by some objects, they said.
Soon it started slowly moving towards the open sea creating panic among passengers.
A fishing boat carrying fishermen rushed towards the ferry and managed to stop it around 100 metres from the Kamalakkadavu jetty, police said.

Later, fishing boats with the help of police and local people managed to bring the ferry along with passengers, back to the shore, police said.
The incident occurred nearly two months after a ferry boat sank in the harbour mouth in Fort Kochi killing 11 passengers.
There were about 20 motorcycles and two autorickshaws in the ferry. None of the vehicles have been damaged in the incident, police said.