Gusty winds wreak havoc on fishing vessels
Gusty winds wreaked havoc with fishing vessels as hundreds of fishermen were trapped in the middle of the sea, seafarers said on Saturday. “Hostile winds tore off across the sea and the fish harbour, trapping several boats deep sea while taking away six anchored boats off the shoreline two days back,” fishermen told Business Recorder.
The primary reason behind the losing destination for the seafarers, who were engaged in deep sea fishing, is lack of official advisory for the fishermen ahead of changing weather, they said. “No one knew the weather will turn that harsh just overnight and hence, several boats trapped in deep sea amidst strong winds which distracted them from their targets,” they said.
The harsh weather brought the fishing activities to a halt, fisheries officials said, adding that the weather will now take some time to become normal for fishing in deep sea. “In winter, there is always expectation of cold weather but present sudden harshness also caused damage to a number of moored boats at harbour and on shorelines,” they said.
Fishermen said the weather change was beyond their expectations to force them to return to moorage before schedule. “The strong winds also damaged a number of boats,” they added.
They lamented that the fisheries department has been ignorant of the weather condition in winter, which cost fishermen dearly. “We aborted our trips to return to the harbour with not much catch,” they said. If the fishermen knew, they would never have sailed their boats off the coast ahead of winter winds, which tore across the sea. “We need a clear weather advisory to move our boats to catch fish,” they said.
Normally, fishermen take precautionary steps to avoid casualties and loss at sea operations, they said, adding that “this time the weather changed suddenly without allowing them to reconsider sailing.” They said there is no onshore support to seafarers from the government and therefore they have to escape any mishap through immediate decisions. “Only Maritime Security Agency provides fishermen with assistance at sea,” they said.