Fourteen crew onboard fishing boat had a miraculous escape after a major fire in the engine room completely gutted the wooden vessel early Friday morning near Alibaug off Mumbai coast. The newly purchased vessel belonged to three brothers who have faced a loss of around Rs 1.90 crore as they had purchased on loan. The fishing vessel identified as Indian Fishing Boat (IFB) Ekvira Mauli (IND-MH-03-MM-4922) caught fire in the engine room in the wee hours of Friday near Alibaug off Mumbai coast. According to Alibaug police, the fire had caught around 4 am.
“I am at complete loss of words to describe what am feeling. The vessel had gone for fishing around 14 days back and on Friday morning around 4am, we got the news of the fire. We reached the coast in another one and half hours and got in touch with Indian coast guards who helped with the rescue of the fishermen who had jumped into the water,” Rakesh Gana, one of the brothers to whom the vessel belonged, said.
According to the statement released by Indian Coast Guard, An Indian Coast Guard Ship IGCS Savitribai Phule patrolling off Maharashtra coast observed thick smoke emanating on the horizon and diverted course at maximum speed to provide assistance. The coast guard vessel reached the fishing boat engulfed in an inferno at 7.15 am and immediately deployed fire fighting team to rescue 14 crew on the flaming vessel to the safety to IFB Dhana Laxmi. “The fishermen were treated for their burn injuries and were reassured of their safety,” confirmed Coast Gaurd West Region spokesperson adding that the distressed fishing boat had reported fire had occurred onboard in the engine room at dawn.
The coast guard ship Savitribai Phule commenced firefighting measures onboard the distressed fishing vessel lasting approximately two hours to successfully extinguish the raging fire posing safety hazard in the busy passenger shipping lanes between Mumbai and Alibaug.
The coast guard further coordinated for stabilising the distressed fishing boat by pumping out water and towing it to nearest harbour by another fishing boat IFB Kalamba Mauli towards Alibaug harbour under escort of another fishing vessel IFB Kalyani.
“In such cases we file an accidental fire report after the complainant approaches us. Our team had extended all the support required at the jetty in Akshi coast,” Sub divisional police officer (Alibag division) Vinit Chaudhary said. The incident happened around six nautical mile inside the sea from the coast of Alibag. “We visited the coast and saw the condition of the boat. It was completely charred and all the belongings inside have been destroyed. We have asked the owners of the boat to visit the police station to file an accidental fire report. The fisheries department will conduct the inquiry and do panchanama at their level,” senior police inspector Kishor Sale from ALibag police station said.
