Indian Coast Guard seizes 2 trawlers with 79 Bangladeshi sailors
The Indian Coast Guard has seized two trawlers with 79 Bangladeshi sailors while they were fishing at the end of Bangladesh’s territorial waters.
They were taken away by the Indian Coast Guard from near the Heron Point area in Khulna at around 10:00 am Monday, confirmed the owners and the shipping department.
The two vessels are FV Laila -2 owned by the SR Fishing and FB Meghna-5 owned by C and F Agro Limited.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, C and F Agro Limited executive director Suman Sen said two trawlers have been fishing within a nautical mile of the country’s water territory for the last 10 days.
However, on Monday, the Indian Coast Guard seized the two boats with the sailors on board at around 10:00am.
Suman Sen said the Indian Coast Guard handed over them to the Indian Navy.
He said Rahul Biswas, captain of the captured trawler, in a radio message told the captains of the other trawlers of the company that all sailors were doing well.
The owners of the two trawlers have met Department of Shipping director general Mohammad Maksud Alam. He said initiatives have been taken to retrieve the two trawlers and the sailors.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, commodore Mohammad Maksud Alam said, “The two trawlers were fishing near the maritime boundary of Bangladesh. The Indian Coast Guard seized the two trawlers from there. Following that, Bangladesh Coast Guard and other government agencies have contacted the relevant Indian agencies. We have taken initiatives to retrieve the two trawlers.”