Mangaluru: Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Shoor and fishing boat Matsya Dweepa, in a joint operation, rescued five fishermen on Wednesday off Netrani Island near Bhatkal in Uttara Kannada district.

A release from the Coast Guard here said that fishing boat “Amma” belonging to Nagesh Naik of Murudeshwar had set off for fishing with five crew members onboard from Honnavar Port on Tuesday night. The boat had a leakage and was sinking and the occupants flashed an SOS message after they failed to plug the leakage.

On receiving the message, another fishing boat Matsya Dweepa as well as ICGS Shoor ventured to the spot and rescued the fisherman. A case has been registered with the Honnavar police, the release said.

In another rescue operation, ICGS Shoor successfully towed a stranded fishing boat “Sowmya” with eight fisherman to Malpe. The boat had ventured out to sea for fishing on August 19 and was stranded for two days at a distance of 54 km from Malpe due to technical glitches. ICGS Shoor towed the boat safely to Malpe despite the rough sea conditions, the release said.

Deputy Inspector-General and Commander, Karnataka Coast Guard, K.R Suresh was quoted in the release as saying that the life of every fisherman as well as mariner is precious and ICG ships and aircraft will undertake search and rescue missions despite the challenges from inclement weather. The commander also urged the fishing community to keep the aspects of safety and security in mind, while venturing out to sea.

All the fishing boats should have life-saving and communication equipment, ration and emergency repair kits.

In any case, Aziz says that he has been welcomed by the Congress leaders to join the party and that he would take a definite conclusion after discussing the matter with JDS activists. He said that personally, he does not have much interest in joining the Congress, and that he is thinking about the matter by holding counsel with activists as a result of solicitations got from Congress leaders, and that the final decision will rest on what the activists feel about it.