Two fishermen died after a merchant vessel rammed into an anchored fishing boat around 2 pm on Sunday off the Kollam coast. Coastal police said the bodies of the deceased were recovered by the Coast Guard and will be brought to Vizhinjam on Monday.

The vessel collided with the anchored fishing boat, causing the 11 fishermen on board to fall into the sea near Colachel in Kanyakumari.

A merchant ship, MT Solis, reportedly struck the vessel about 120 nautical miles off the coast. The crew of the ship immediately rescued nine fishermen from the trawler St Joseph, owned by Rajesh Mathew of Shakthikulangara in Kollam.

Four of the fishermen on board are from Tamil Nadu, and six are from West Bengal. No Malayalis were among them, the councillor said. Indian Coast Guard vessel Anagh carried the rescued fishermen to the Vizhinjam shore.

Two of the rescued fishermen sustained serious injuries, while the others suffered minor injuries. The ship had doctors on board who administered first aid to the fishermen immediately after the rescue, the councillor added. All of them were conscious and able to provide details about the incident. They were later taken to the Medical College Hospital for treatment, she said.

The trawler had set out from Kollam on Friday afternoon. "After lunch on Saturday, the crew members were resting inside the boat after anchoring it along the shipping route. It was the crew members from the ship who dived into the sea and rescued nine fishermen, but they could not find the other two," she said.

The fishermen, who had planned a 15-day trawling trip, lost their equipment, identity cards and clothes in the incident. The trawler also sustained significant damage. The collision caused extensive damage to the fishing boat, which sank shortly afterwards.

The merchant vessel involved in the collision is registered in Panama and was travelling from Oman to Colombo. Officials said a case would be registered after recording the statements of the rescued fishermen.