Kerala - Kochi   

Radio beacons for 10,000 traditional fishing boats

KOCHI: About 10,000 fishing boats in Kerala, mainly those used by traditional fishermen, are likely to get sea-safety kits that will include emergency position-indicating radio beacons by the middle of next year.

The kits, which will cost around Rs.15,000 each, will be supplied free of cost under the Centrally-funded Sea Safety and Early Warning Project. About 300 kits are expected to be delivered to fishermen in Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts by October.

The safety kits are expected to greatly reduce the number of fishermen’s deaths at sea, cut the number of accidents and help in sea rescue operations.

The funding for the kits will come from the Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme and the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund. However, the first 300 kits, part of the Tsunami Emergency Assistance Project, will be funded by the Asian Development Bank.

Depending on the availability of funds, the sea-safety kits are likely to be supplied to all traditional fishing boats in due course, Fisheries Department officials indicated. Each of the kits will include: a GPS (global positioning system)-supported radio beacon, heliograph, radar reflector, mariner’s compass and other emergency tools.

The radio beacon will be the most important tool in the kit. In times of emergency, it will send distress signals indicating the boat’s location to attract help.

The beacon, developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will be manufactured by Keltron. Imported beacons cost upwards of Rs.40,000, but Keltron’s beacon would cost less than Rs.8,000.

If a vessel capsizes or if the beacon comes into contact with sea water, it will send up signals that will be picked up by satellites which will redirect the signals to ISRO’s Bangalore centre.

The ISRO, after deciphering the data, will send the information to the Coast Guard, which will rush its planes, helicopters or rescue vessels to the boat in distress. Each beacon will have a specific code and will be programmed to send distress signals within 20 seconds of coming in contact with sea water.

N.K. Sasidharan Pillai, team leader of the Project Implementation Unit of the Tsunami Rehabilitation Project (TRP), told The Hindu that 2,000 kits would be funded by the TRP, 4,000 by the PM’s Relief Fund and the rest by other Central funding sources.

The beneficiaries would be selected at the village level by a panel consisting of panchayat functionaries and Fisheries Department officials.Dr. Pillai said an awareness campaign would be launched to educate fishermen on the need to equip their boats with the rescue kits.

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