more-in Having located a possible wreckage of the fishing boat Oceanic, the Southern Naval Command (SNC) on Monday augmented its search operations by despatching a ship to ascertain the area covered by the wreckage as well the presence of dead bodies in its vicinity. Naval sources said that an investigation using the side-scan sonar of INS Sutlej had pointed to a strong possibility of the boat around three nautical miles northeast of the estimated position of the collision. Based on that, the SNC has despatched INS Nireekshak, a ship that specialises in under-water operations and has a remote operated vehicle (ROV). “The reported depth in the incident area is 75 metres, and due to the ongoing onslaught of monsoon, the weather conditions at sea are marginal. Notwithstanding the difficult circumstances, attempts would be made to ascertain the presence of bodies of missing fishermen in the likely wreck at sea with ROV. The search and rescue operations are being monitored at the highest level,” said an official statement. A firm understanding of the situation will enable the civic administration to plan salvage operations and recovery of bodies, officials said. The Navy, which has deployed its surface and air assets to locate the wreckage, has so far searched a total area of 1,600 nautical miles and clocked 216 ship hours with 27 hours of flying operations. Besides the Navy, the Indian Coast Guard and the Marine Enforcement Wing are taking part in the search operation. An examination of the oil tanker Desh Shakti, suspected to have rammed the fishing vessel, is slated to be completed by Tuesday. The vessel is at present berthed at the New Mangalore Port. Meanwhile, the body of Yesubalan, a native of Ramanthurai, recovered the other day, was handed over to relatives after post-mortem on Monday.

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