In the past one year, more than five incidents of fishing boats catching fire mid-sea were reported. And, over 40 mechanized fishing boats were gutted in a fire accident in Vizag fishing harbour last year. However, many mechanized fishing boats operating from parts of Andhra Pradesh don’t have adequate life-saving and fire-fighting equipment.
Fishing boats suffering damage and fishermen sustaining injuries in fire accidents has become a major issue along the coast of Vizag and other parts of the state.
There are over 2,500 mechanized fishing boats (which can store over 5,000 litres of fuel) in Andhra Pradesh (Vizag, Kakinada, Machilipatnam, Vadarevu, Kalingapatnam and few other areas), and of them, around 700 boats are in Vizag fishing harbour.
As per the norms, boat owners must equip the vessels with navigational, life-saving, and fire equipment. However, many of the boats do not have portable fire extinguishers. Other equipment such as power or hand-operated pump and fireman’s axe are hardly found.
Speaking to TOI, general secretary of Dolphin Boat Operators’ Welfare Association, Surada Satyanarayana, said only 100 to 200 boats in Vizag region are equipped with life-saving and portable fire extinguishers while the remaining boats do not have the equipment. Most of the boat owners ignore installing the safety devices citing theft in boats and a few other reasons, he added.
The fisheries sector has been reeling under economic crisis for the past few years. The hike in fuel price (diesel) and low catch of popular varieties of fish and prawn have dampened the sector, said some of the fishermen.
Apart from the fire-related accident, the fishing boats also face engine failures. To make a boat fully equipped (life-saving and firefighting), the boat owners have to invest more. We are urging various departments (fisheries, Marine Products Export Development Authority, fire safety) to provide life-saving equipment and fire fighting equipment to boat owners at low price or free of cost, said Vasupalli Janaki Ram, president of AP Mechanized Fishing Boat Operator’s Association.