Fishing vessel-submarine collision: Bodies of 2 crew members recovered

The bodies of two crew members who went missing after a fishing vessel collided with a submarine have been recovered from the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast, a senior naval official said on Friday.

The fishing vessel, Marthoma, sank after colliding with the submarine of the Indian Navy at about 70 nautical miles off the shore last week, triggering a massive operation to trace the two crew members.

In a joint operation involving the Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) on Thursday, the mortal remains of the missing crew members were recovered from the seabed near the shipwreck, an Indian Navy spokesperson said.

The boat had sunk after colliding with an Indian Navy submarine on November 21. Eleven of the 13 crew were rescued on the same day by Indian Navy ships, while two persons had remained missing, he said.

The official said that the Indian Navy and Coast Guard jointly undertook a week-long search, which helped localise the fishing boat's wreckage.

The mortal remains of the two crew (members) were recovered from the vicinity of the wreckage with the assistance of ONGC and are now being handed over to the authorities, he added.