Thoothukudi sailors highly skilled, says mechanised vessel owners body
The cargo vessel crew of Thoothukudi had enough experience in sailing vessels and let any expert team pay a visit and verify the authenticity, said Fernando
A coastal sail vessel berthed at old port in Thoothukudi
MADURAI: Thoothukudi being a Port city, is a hub for sailing activities, S Lasington Fernando, secretary, Tuticorin Coastal Mechanised Sail Vessel Owners Association, said on Sunday.
“During an online session with officials from the Department of Shipping last week to hear views of the sail vessel operators, they told us that Assamese with a dearth of experience were engaged in the vessels setting sail from Thoothukudi,” he said.
The cargo vessel crew of Thoothukudi had enough experience in sailing vessels and let any expert team pay a visit and verify the authenticity, said Fernando while speaking to DT Next and refuting the officials’ claim.
Further, he said coastal sail vessel operators in Thoothukudi sought intervention from the government to relax foul weather restrictions imposed on mechanically propelled sailing vessels. The six-month foul weather restrictions at sea since May 1 halted the operations. The weather restrictions since 2008 following an accident in the Andaman Sea have been affecting the fortunes of the industry.
Unlike those days, the vessels are being equipped with ‘distress alert transmitters’, ‘automatic identification systems’, global position systems, VHF, and other modern navigation gadgets ensuring the safety of the sailing crew.
Adding that weather restrictions are confined to three months from June for sail vessel operators off the West coast, he said restrictions should be uniform across the ocean.
However, the weather restrictions since 2008 resulted in the diversion of cargo to container vessels, affecting the livelihoods of the vessel crew and the industry stakeholders.
He also sought the government to provide satellite phones to the sailing crew as announced earlier.