Missing Indian fishing boat, crewman found in Arabian Sea

A hydrographic survey vessel of the Indian Navy has found the wreckage of a fishing boat that was last sighted in the Arabian Sea nearly two months prior.

In response to a request by the state government of Maharashtra, INS Makar deployed in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Ratnagiri to search for the wreckage of the fishing boat Naved-2 on Saturday, December 18.

The boat went missing on October 26 and is believed to have become a hazard to navigation. This then prompted authorities to attempt to locate and identify the wreck before it could pose an even greater danger to other vessels passing through the area.

The Maharashtra government had also informed the navy that one of the fishing boat’s crew was still missing and that no trace of this individual has yet been found.

With the aid of sonar, Makar located the wreckage half-submerged on the seabed off Ratnagiri.

The body of the missing crewman was found inside the wreck.

The navy and local marine police personnel conducted an additional assessment of the wreckage before sending divers to the seabed to recover the remains of the missing fisherman.