Sri Lankan authorities are running rescue operations for three multi-day fishing trawlers in distress at sea, with one being towed back to Galle Harbour from a position 120 nautical miles offshore, the Director General of the Department of Fisheries said on Saturday.
DG Susantha Kahawatte said one of the vessels had been adrift near Indonesian waters after a technical failure. A second trawler owned by the same operator set sail on 14 May to tow the disabled boat home and is expected to reach it within a day. A separate distressed vessel that had been abandoned at sea was rescued by another fishing boat; its crew has remained aboard and resumed fishing.
The third trawler, with a mechanical fault, is being towed toward Galle Harbour and is currently about 120 nautical miles offshore. No casualties have been reported.
Kahawatte said retrieving vessels in distress in international waters was “extremely costly and time-consuming” and urged owners to verify the mechanical soundness of their boats before sailing. Deploying only properly maintained vessels would minimise potential disasters and safeguard both crew lives and owners’ assets, he said.
The incidents come in the middle of the south-west monsoon season, which has forced flooding diversions on the Negombo–Kotadeniyawa road and disrupted shipping along the western coast since late last week.
