Death of Chennai fishermen: CM Vijay announces compensation

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The bodies of three fishermen from Tamil Nadu washed ashore at Kothapatnam coast in Ongole on Thursday while another fisherman’s body was found later in the sea by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) officials at Nizampatnam Port. File | Photo Credit: V RAJU

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Thursday (November 5, 2026) announced a solatium of ₹7 lakh each to the families of three Chennai fishermen, whose bodies were washed ashore on the Andhra Pradesh coast. He directed that ₹2 lakh each be disbursed immediately. He also ordered that arrangements be made to transport the bodies to Tamil Nadu at the government’s expense and hand them over to their families.

Mr. Vijay expressed grief over the death of the three fishermen from Chennai who had gone missing after their mechanised fishing boat suffered an engine failure mid-sea and their bodies washed ashore on the Andhra Pradesh coast.

In a statement, Mr. Vijay said nine fishermen, namely K. Packirisamy alias Surya (49), M. Kuppan (48), S. Mohan (47), K. Rajesh (52), A. Murugan (48), L. Kuppusamy (58), C. Vijayakanth (44), A. Aravind (40) and M. Narayanan (57), had ventured into the sea for fishing from the Chennai Fishing Harbour on October 29 in a mechanised fishing boat.

Following a weather warning issued by the Tamil Nadu Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department, they had taken shelter at the Nizampatnam Fishing Harbour in Andhra Pradesh. On November 2 night, the fishermen proceeded towards Ramayapatnam Port. However, the mechanised boat suffered engine failure, and the fishermen on board informed fishermen in another mechanised boat about the incident through wireless in the early hours of November 3.

As no further communication was received from the missing boat and its location remained unknown, the Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare Department was instructed to coordinate search operations involving fishing boats from Chennai Fishing Harbour, fishing boats from Andhra Pradesh and vessels of the Indian Coast Guard, along with assistance from Andhra Pradesh officials and the families of the missing fishermen, to ascertain their whereabouts.

However, the bodies of S. Mohan, A. Murugan and C. Vijayakanth washed ashore and were identified along the Kothapatnam coast in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Vijay said. He directed officials to expedite the identification of the two other bodies that had been recovered and intensify the search for the remaining missing fishermen.

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