Twenty-two fishing boats — 11 of them mechanised boats and an equal number of beach landing craft — turned turtle at the fishing harbour as Cyclone Phethai crossed the coast on Monday. Irate fishermen said their boats sank after being hit by abandoned trawlers and tugs at the harbour.

The abandoned vessels take up over a third of the space at the harbour, causing severe congestion. These vessels are not anchored properly, and collide with other boats whenever there is a strong wind, say fishermen.

₹59.75 lakh damage

The damage suffered by the boat owners was estimated at ₹59.75 lakh by the Fisheries Department on Tuesday. The department will submit a report on the damage to the government soon.

Agitated over the frequent damage, representatives from the fishermen community urged Visakha South MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar and Fisheries Department Joint Director Koteswara Rao to ask the Visakhapatnam Port to decongest the harbour by removing abandoned vessels and ensure proper anchorage of all boats to prevent such collisions.

During Cyclone Hudhud, 64 mechanised boats were damaged in similar collisions. This led to a compensation payout of ₹6 lakh for boats beyond salvaging and ₹5 lakh for boats that could be salvaged.

As many as 700 mechanised boats operate from the fishing harbour, the largest in the State. Congestion is a major issue being faced by fishermen, with the problem being attributed to abandoning of trawlers due to insurance issues and other claims.

Red tape

The boats cannot be removed for want of NoCs from the AP Pollution Control Board despite the owners seeking permission to take the vessels apart and sell them for scrap. As per law, the vessels need to be taken to Alang in Gujarat for ship-breaking.

 There are about 10 to 12 trawlers and a few tugs that have been abandoned in the harbour, causing heavy congestion in all 10 jetties. Our appeals to port authorities fall on deaf ears. We request them to take immediate action,  Dolphin Boat Operators  Welfare Association president Ch. Satyanarayana Murthy told The Hindu.

Joint Director of Fisheries Koteswara Rao said they have assessed the damage to the boats and are in the process of submitting a report to the authorities.