MUMBAI, Oct 18: In what must have been a marathon swim in choppy seas, at least eight fishermen have swum back ashore after their boats sank in cyclonic conditions off the Mumbai coast, during the last three days.Nearly all of the 200 fishermen in 48 boats, who were missing in the cyclone, have since returned. ``However, 10 of them, three from Versova and seven from Ferry Wharf, are still missing,'' Akhil Maharashtra Macchimar Kriti Samiti (AMMKS) president, Damodar Tandel told Express Newsline.Three members of a 10-member crew of the trawler Bhagwati Devi swam to safety after their boat collided with a sunken ship near the Colaba lighthouse and sank. On Saturday morning, the three fishermen who hail from Gujarat, Dalsukhbhai Tandel, Laljibhai Tandel and Bharat Prabhu Worli, swam nearly 10 miles, hours after their boat sank. The exhausted trio swam the distance from the mouth of the harbour to Colaba in choppy seas.Further north, five crew members of a trawler Gangadhar which sank off Versovapaddled back to shore on Saturday after spending two days stranded on rocks off the coast. The tired and hungry anglers swam nearly five miles. Three fishermen from the trawler are still reported missing. ``This always happens in a cyclone, only the strong survive,'' Vijay Bandarkar of the Kriti Samiti told Express Newsline. He said chances of the survival of the 10 missing fishermen appear slim.Meanwhile, the Coast Guard rescued four members of the trawler Pooja that had gone missing off Malad. A chopper from the Offshore Patrol Vessel CGS Veera spotted the trawler drifting without engines off the Vasai creek on Sunday afternoon. The boat had sailed out of Madh nearly a week ago.A Coast Guard rescue team winched down to the boat and provided them food, water and fuel. The boat's engines were set right and she sailed back to Malvani. The Coast Guard flew approximately 12 sorties until dusk on Sunday using Dornier fixed wing aircraft and Chetak helicopters out of the Daman air station and a helicopterwhich continuously flew from the CGS Veera. The Veera is still stationed off the coast to respond to any further distress calls.The Commissionerate of Fisheries has set up a control room manned round the clock to provide information on the missing fishermen. They can be contacted on 2812061 / 2811062.Meanwhile, the Weather Bureau says the cyclonic storm over south Gujarat has completely dissipated.
