The Minister of Fisheries, Mr. Douglas Devananda, expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the deceased regarding the tragic deaths that took place in the multi-day vessel, Devon-5 bearing the registered boat number IMULA0909TLE, due to its fishermen consuming a solution from a bottle floating in the sea.
The Minister stated that he was informed about this incident when he was on an observation tour observing the development in fishery harbours in the Southern province. When he learned about this tragic incident, he instructed the secretary of the ministry, Mr. Nishantha Wickremasinghe, and the other relevant officials to take immediate measures to bring them ashore. The Department of Fisheries and the Navy took immediate measures to rescue the fishermen in the vessel by connecting with its MRCC unit. The location of the vessel, Devon 5 was found by the vessel monitoring system of the Department of Fisheries and the information was given to relevant sections accordingly the location of the vessel, Devon-5 was informed to the vessels that were located nearby and were immediately sent to its location.
The vessel bearing no. IMULA0577TLE approached this vessel and they gave further details about these poignant deaths to the Department of Fisheries. In this instance, a Navy doctor was contacted by radio, and the necessary medical advice was given. Efforts were also made to provide first aid to the survivors.
However, it is sad that this disaster was not informed immediately by pressing the distress button on the vessel. Had it been informed earlier, the rescue operations could have been started much faster.
The Minister considered if Air Force helicopters could travel at such a distance. But, Devon 5 had traveled 360 nautical miles from the land i.e. over 600km and it was found that the distance is 4 times the distance that a helicopter can normally travel.
However, at this instance, a Navy vessel had reached the Devon-5 and brought fishermen who survived the incident to shore and were currently receiving treatment at the Hambantota Hospital. Fisheries Minister Douglas Devananda further said that arrangements are being made to pay a considerable amount of compensation for the families of the deceased by considering sympathetically about this poignant incident.