“It was a moment that made me think of God and pray for His help. We were fishing, and suddenly saw a huge oil taker in the vicinity without sufficient signal. We were on a life-and-death struggle as the killer ship approached us.” “We ran around on the boat fearing for our lives, raised the boat’s sound to a high pitch and began shouting for help. Within five minutes, the ship hit the boat,” says Micheal, one of the two survivors of the mishap in the sea off Alappuzha.
The boat was fishing some 16 nautical miles away from Arthungal coast in the early hours on Thursday. “I saw the vessel from far. We didn’t take it seriously, as we were confident we were well within our territorial waters. As the ship was ill-lit, we took it to be a container ship. Passenger ships are mostly decked with colourful lights. This ship had just a single flickering lamp on its top,” he recalled.
“We raised our hands and showed signs towards the ship, in all humility, hoping that the ship will stop. But, it didn’t. When the ship came closer to our boat, I closed my eyes and bowed my head, praying. As it hit the boat, I was thrown out and the boat turned upside down.” “Fortunately, I got a grip on the fishing net, helping me not to plunge into the sea. I didn’t fall unconscious, though I was very scared. I had seen Xavior was seeking help from me. I was helpless,” he said.
Joseph, who has been doing fishing for more than 30 years, said it was the first incident in his life. The ship, he said, ran over the boat, and the boat turned upside down. We waved our hands in the air as the ship approached us with unusual quiet.”
“I don’t know how I reached the coast. I was in the water for more than two hours, perhaps.”
“Several other boats were engaged in fishing in the sea around us. It appears that after identifying the absence of our boat, other boats came to know we landed in danger. If they hadn’t come to our help, our fate would have been different,” he said.