Colombo: The Sri Lankan Navy has launched a rescue and assistance operation after an Indian fishing trawler carrying 11 crew members met with an accident in the island nation’s territorial waters, according to an official statement issued on Thursday, PTI reported.
The vessel reportedly entered Sri Lankan waters after crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line and was allegedly involved in bottom trawling before running aground on a reef near Delft Island.
Also known as Neduntheevu, Delft Island is situated in the Palk Strait, off Sri Lanka’s northern coast and close to Tamil Nadu.
Sri Lankan Navy media spokesman Commander Chaminda Walakuluge said the Indian trawler was engaged in illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters when it suffered the accident on Wednesday.
“Due to the impact of grounding on the reef, the trawler has sustained partial structural damage,” the Sri Lanka Navy said in its statement.
The Navy, however, said the situation was not critical and that the 11 fishermen aboard the vessel were not facing any immediate danger.
Rescue teams and assistance units were subsequently deployed to the area to help the Indian crew, the statement said.
“Subsequent action about the incident is presently being pursued in conformity with the relevant legal procedures,” it added.
The incident comes against the backdrop of longstanding differences between India and Sri Lanka over fishing rights in the Palk Strait. Fishermen from Tamil Nadu have frequently been detained by Sri Lankan authorities on allegations of entering the country’s territorial waters and engaging in prohibited fishing practices.
The Palk Strait, which separates the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu from northern Sri Lanka, is an important fishing zone for communities on both sides.
As a result, fishermen from India and Sri Lanka are regularly arrested and their boats seized for allegedly entering the other country’s waters.
