MADURAI: The owner and the crew members of the Sea Queen, a fishing boat from in Tamil Nadu that suffered a mid-sea collision with an oil tanker recently, were compensated by the shipping company on Thursday. While the 14 crew members were given a total compensation of US$10,000 (Rs 50,000 for each crew member), the boat owner was given US$40,000. On January 14, the Sea Queen vessel was hit by the Liberian flagged oil tanker MT Boston while the boat was anchored at the Wedge Bank, 60 nautical miles off the Kanyakumari coast. The crew members had a harrowing time since the boat was being dragged by the ship as its anchor rope got entangled with the ship.
They managed to cut the rope in time as the boat was tilting. The boats suffered hull damage due to the collision. After returning to the Colachel fishing harbour, the crew members filed a complaint with the marine police. Also, a complaint was lodged with the director general of shipping. Meenavar Orunginaippu Sangam secretary Johnson Charles said the Greece-based shipping company, Dynacom, was ready for a compromise and compensated the fishing vessel and the crew members with a total of US$50,000. The crew members and the boat owner were handed over the cheques by the company, he said.