36 hours without food or water: Coast Guard rescues fisherman adrift in sea off Kochi

Kochi: A 40-year-old fisherman who went missing from a fishing vessel was rescued after drifting alone at sea for nearly 36 hours without food or water, in a search operation carried out by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) off the Kochi coast.

The rescued man has been identified as Ranjumoni Sonowal, a crew member of the Tamil Nadu-registered mechanised fishing vessel Zion. He went missing late on the night of March 30 while the vessel was returning to the coast after fishing in the outer sea.

According to the ICG, Sonowal was found nearly 27 kilometres off the Kochi coast, where he had been afloat in the sea for over a day and a half. He was spotted at 11.45 am on Wednesday by Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Arnvesh, which had been deployed as part of a coordinated search effort.

The alert about the missing fisherman was received by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai, and the Maritime Rescue Sub-Centre (MRSC), Kochi, on March 31. A Maritime Search and Rescue (M-SAR) operation was immediately launched, with ICGS Arnvesh diverted from patrol duties to join the search. An ICG aircraft was also deployed to assist in locating the missing crew member.

After he was brought on board, Sonowal was given first aid in the ship’s medical room. Officials said he was severely dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia after prolonged exposure at sea. Following initial stabilisation, he was later shifted to a hospital for further medical examination and treatment.

The rescue followed a sustained search effort carried out by ICG teams through the night and into the next day, covering both sea and air.