CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister C Joseph Vijay on Thursday announced a compensation of Rs 7 lakh each to the families of fishermen who died after their mechanised fishing boat suffered an engine breakdown off the Andhra Pradesh coast. Three bodies have been identified, while two other bodies have been recovered and are awaiting formal identification. Search operations are continuing for the remaining missing fishermen.Expressing condolences to the bereaved families, Vijay said an immediate disbursement of Rs 2 lakh would be made to each family.The CM directed officials to make arrangements to bring the bodies back to Tamil Nadu at the state’s expense and hand them over to their families.The nine fishermen set out from Chennai Fishing Harbour on Oct 29. Following storm and severe weather warnings issued by the Tamil Nadu fisheries department, they anchored their boat at Nizampatnam Fishing Harbour in Andhra Pradesh.According to a statement issued by the chief minister, the crew communicated through wireless radio with fishermen aboard another mechanised boat in the early hours of Nov 3. They said they left for Ramayapatnam Port on the night of Nov 2 and that their boat’s engine had broken down mid-sea. Contact with the vessel was lost after the transmission, and its exact location could not be established.Following this, the fisheries department was directed to launch intensive search-and-rescue operations involving fishing boats from Chennai and Andhra Pradesh, as well as Indian Coast Guard vessels, in coordination with Andhra Pradesh authorities and the families of the missing fishermen.The bodies of S Mohan, 47, A Murugan, 48, and C Vijayakanth,44, were recovered and identified along the Kothapatnam coast in Prakasam district. The chief minister said he had directed officials to expedite the formal identification of two other recovered bodies and intensify the search for the remaining missing fishermen.
