Udupi: Search operations for the fishing boat, Suvarna Tribhuja from Malpe with seven fishermen on board, which went missing off the Goa coast on December 15, 2018, are continuing.

In a press release issued here on Monday, K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, said that the Deputy Secretary, Coastal Security, Ministry of Home Affairs (Department of Border Management), had written a letter to him stating that the Indian Coast Guard was continuing its search for the missing boat and was working in coordination with the Indian Navy.

They were coordinating with coastal States, local authorities and fishing association. The letter also gave a detailed explanation of the search operations done by the Indian Coast Guard and other authorities, he said.

The Suvarna Tribhuja had left the Malpe fisheries harbour on December 13, 2018, with six other fishing boats. The other boats from Malpe noticed its absence and searched for it on December 15, 2018, but to no avail. A missing complaint was lodged at the Malpe police station on December 22, 2018. While two fishermen on the Suvarna Tribhuja are from Udupi, the remaining five are from Uttara Kannada district. The missing fishermen are Chandrashekhar Kotian (40), owner and captain of the boat, Damodar Salian (40), both from Udupi; Laxman (45), Sathisha (35), Harish (28), Ramesh (30) from Kumta; and Ravi (27) from Manki.