Foreign cargo ship willing to cooperate in probe
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Kochi: A foreign cargo ship, which allegedly hit an Indian fishing boat off the Kerala coast last week, has conveyed its willingness to cooperate in the probe by the Indian authorities, official sources said Tuesday.
The Hong Kong-registered vessel, which has been asked to berth at a nearby Indian port for further investigation, would be reaching Port Blair in about two days to cooperate in the probe, sources told PTI here.
Since the issue involves the Directorate General of Shipping, the investigation would be carried out by a team from the DG Shipping at Port Blair, they said.
The Navy had on Sunday said the cargo ship was "most likely" a Hong Kong-registered vessel.
The ship is now in international waters.
The boat was hit by the cargo vessel, about 40 nautical miles from Kollam, in international waters on Saturday.
All the six fishermen -- one Keralite and five from Tamil Nadu -- on board the boat were rescued by other boats nearby and brought to the shore safely.
The boat was fully damaged in the incident.
The Kerala Coastal Police has already registered a case against the cargo vessel on the basis of the statements of the fishermen, who were on board the fishing boat.
The crew of the ship were booked under IPC sections relating to "rash navigation of vessel, causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others", the Kochi Coastal Police had said.