Out of the two remaining fishermen who were critically ill on the multi-day fishing trawler ‘Devon 5’, one surviving fisherman was brought ashore to the Hambantota Harbour yesterday (01) aboard the SLNS Vijayabahu and was admitted at the Hamabantota General Hospital for immediate medical attention.
Sri Lankan Navy Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) had alerted a merchant ship sailing under the flag of Singapore named ‘MV KOTA CAMIL’ which was in the vicinity of the fishing trawler ‘Devon 5’, that had taken aboard two fishermen who were still alive on Sunday (30).
However, one of the two surviving fishermen also died while receiving treatment onboard the merchant ship and the surviving fisherman was transferred to the SLNS Vijayabahu on Sunday evening, about 170 nautical miles off Dondra. The fisherman was administered emergency medical treatment by the Navy medical team onboard until he was brought ashore to the Hambantota Harbour.
A crew of six fishermen from Tangalle Fisheries Harbour, who were on a multi-day fishing voyage, fell critically ill after having drunk an unknown liquid from a bottle discovered floating in the sea, assuming it was liquor.
Four fishermen lost their lives after drinking the unknown liquid and the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources sent an urgent request to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Colombo at Navy Headquarters on June 29 to expedite the bringing of the remaining fishermen to shore to provide immediate medical attention. The Navy promptly responded to the request having MRCC Colombo coordinating efforts to alert ships in the vicinity to provide relief to the fishermen, approximately 365 nautical miles away in the sea with a Navy doctor who promptly offered medical advice to the remaining fishermen onboard remotely.
Varuna Dayaratne
