• B’desh vessel agrees to compensate Rs. 18.5 m for Galle incident 

Authorities are yet to find the fate that befell the Sri Lankan fishermen who went missing in the seas off Galle and the Indian fishermen, near Kachchatheevu Island. Among them one fisherman was found dead. 

Last month (August), it was reported that an Indian fishing vessel met with an accident near the Kachchatheevu Island, and that while two fishermen were rescued by the Sri Lanka Navy, two had gone missing. Meanwhile, last week, reports said that three Sri Lankan fishermen had gone missing after the fishing trawler that they sailed on collided with a ship that was passing the Galle area. Out of the seven fishermen who had been onboard, the remaining four had been rescued.

Navy Spokesperson, Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya told The Daily Morning that the body of one Indian fisherman, who had gone missing in the former incident, had been found by the Indian authorities, while there is no information about the other person.

However, there is no information about the fishermen that went missing in the latter incident which took place near Galle, according to the authorities. Fisheries Ministry Secretary M.P.N.M. Wickramasinghe explained that despite that situation, the ship that collided with the fishing trawler had been identified as a Bangladeshi one, and that the authorities representing the two parties had come to an agreement on compensation to be paid to Sri Lanka. He told The Daily Morning that following discussions, an agreement had been reached where the authorities representing the Bangladeshi ship would pay Rs. 2.5 million for each missing fisherman and Rs. 11 million for the damages caused to the fishing trawler.

The Daily Morning’s attempts to contact the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka to inquire about any steps being taken from their end were not successful.