One fisherman is missing while six others survived after a mechanised fishing boat with six persons on board capsized near the confluence point of the Vasishta River with the Bay of Bengal in Katrenikona mandal of Konaseema district on July 17 (Monday). The Vasishta is a distributary of the River Godavari.
The missing fisherman has been identified as K. Sattibabu. The boat bearing registration number IND-AP-E4-Mo-683 capsized at K. Kothapalem village, about 500 meters from the confluence point Vasishta River with the Bay of Bengal when the fishermen was returning after a three-day trip into the Bay of Bengal.
Those who survived are K. Venkateswara Rao, K. Seshadri, S. Bhairavaswami, T. Sateesh, P. Satyam and S. Sattibabu, all hailing from Bulusutippa village in Katrenikona mandal.
“The incident had occurred in the early hours when the fishermen were returning home after the weather alert. At least 100 local residents have been deployed on 25 fishing boats for the search operation. K. Sattibabu has not been traced by Monday night,” said Joint Director of Fisheries L. Mohammad, adding that the search operation would be resumed on July 18 (Tuesday).