No clue on Malpe fishing boat missing: Coast Guard continues search operation for fishermen
Malpe, December 24: The search operation for eight fishermen who were missing in the deep sea along with the boat continued on Monday, but no clues were found so far, sources said.
The family members of eight fishermen boat owner Badanidiyur Chandrashekar (40), Damodar Badanidiyur (40), Lakshman of Kumta (45), Sathish (35), Harish (28), Ramesh (30), Jogaiah (40) and Ravi Monkey (27) were panic. All of them had ventured into the sea in Suvarna Thribhuja boat on December 13 at 11 pm from Malpe port. After December 15 midnight, all of them were not reachable and missing. It is said that the boat was missing around 40-50 km Goa-Rathnagiri route from the sea shore.
As a missing case registered at Malpe police station, Fisheries department and police have informed the Mangaluru Coast Guard who in turn informed the Goa Coast Guard. Now, both Goa and Mangaluru Coast Guard teams have been searching for the missing boat and fishermen, but no information was available, sources said.
Fisheries department deputy director Parshwanath told Varthabharathi that ‘Mangaluru Coast Guard officials are in touch with us. They have continued their search operation. But no information is available so far”, he said.
Kidnap suspected
This is the first incident in Malpe port where fishermen were missing along with the boat. Some boats of Malpe have been searching in Goa-Rathnagiri sea range, but no information was received. If the boat is believed to be drowned, there must be some clues like diesel smell, cans or parts of the boat must have floated on the water. But there was no such clue in the sea. So, it is suspected that pirates might have kidnapped them, said Malpe Fishermen Association president Sathish Kunder.
CM contacted: Pramod Madhwaraj
Former fisheries minister Pramod Madhwaraj said that he has informed Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy and DGP Neelamani N Raju over phone on missing of fishermen along with a fishing boat from Malpe port.
As the fishermen met Madhwaraj at his home and informed the incident, latter had contacted the CM and the DGP and urged them to take the issue seriously and constitute a special team to trace the fishermen shortly.
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Air India flights to North America, Europe to use alternative routes
New Delhi (PTI): Air India will operate its flights to North America and Europe using alternative routes over available airspaces in the Middle East and cancel six flights to various European cities on March 2.
The airline, which cancelled 50 international flights on Sunday, said it would extend suspension of all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar till 23:59 hours (IST) on March 2.
In a post on X on Sunday, the carrier said six flights, including Amritsar-Birmingham (AI117) and Birmingham-Delhi (AI114), would be cancelled on Monday.
Besides, AI151 and A152 flights between Delhi and Zurich, as well as AI157 and AI158 flights between Delhi and Copenhagen, would be cancelled on Monday.
“All other flights to North America and Europe will operate as per schedule using alternative routings over available airspaces in the Middle East, which is expected to add to the flying times.
"Additionally, flights to New York (JFK) and Newark (Liberty International) will operate with technical stops at Rome (Fiumicino Airport)," Air India said.
With stops in Rome, the flying time for Air India flights to North America would increase and also result in increased operating expenses.
Since the Iran and Iraq airspaces remain closed, officials said the airline would take the Egypt route to reach Europe, which would mean 30-40 minutes of additional flying time.
The flights would take the route through Oman, the southern part of Saudi Arabia and Egypt for European and North American destinations, the officials added.
The airline also said that it continues to closely monitor the situation and has carefully assessed the evolving circumstances across multiple parameters, including safety, security, airspace availability, and operational feasibility, before deciding on these operations for March 2.
In the wake of the escalating Middle East crisis, flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with the civil aviation ministry saying Indian carriers cancelled 350 international flights on Sunday.
