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Anthony Raj left his house in Colachel on 25 May, promising his family that he will return by 15 June. He was out fishing onboard Carmel Matha, a fishing vessel.
But early on Sunday morning, Anthony’s family received the worst news possible. The 55-year-old’s body had been recovered from the sea after Carmel Matha collided with a Panama flagged cargo ship, Amber L.
Anthony was sleeping when the incident happened, and couldn’t keep afloat long enough to find a rescue boat; the one vessel that could have saved him – Amber L – sailed away without stopping to help.
Anthony Raj is survived by his wife, sister, and four children: Selfia, Jeniba, Amal and Aaroma. The last time that he spoke to his family was on 9 June, just before he went into the sea.
Vimala is unable to accept that her brother is no more. “He never slept outside the boat. But we were told that he was sleeping outside the boat and when the ship hit the boat, he got stuck in the fishing net, and was unable to swim out of it,” she says.
Remembering her brother, Vimala says that he started fishing from his childhood. “He was the one who financially supported all of us and brought us up,” she recalls.
But today, the future of his children seems bleak, she says. “All the children are studying. The eldest one is in the second year of college and other three are in school. How will they all continue their studies?” she laments.
Around 2 am on Sunday, there was a crash around 12 nautical miles from the Kochi coast. The fishing boat, Carmel Matha, that had ventured into sea on 9 June, was anchored there, but suddenly, a cargo ship Amber L collided with it.
While Amber L has been detained by the Indian Navy and brought to shore and the crew has been booked, the fisher community says that this is not a one-off incident. The General Secretary of Meengal Makkal Iyakkam, K Berlin, says that such incidents have been happening for years.
“How can cargo ships come into areas where traditional fishermen fish? These questions need to be asked,” he adds. Pointing a finger at the government, Berlin says,
(This article has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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