The four fishermen, who were stranded in the sea off the Machilipatnam coast for three days, reached Kothapalem village near Katrenikona Mandal off Konaseema coast, safely on Thursday.
The fishermen have been identified as Moka Venkateswara Rao, 64-year-old Ramani Chinna Nancharayya, Viswanathapalli China Mathen and Chekka Narasimha Rao, all natives of Karagraharam village near Machiliipatnam.
The four ventured into the sea off Machilipatnam coast at Campbellpeta on a mechanised boat (Boat No. IND-AP-K2-MO-60) for fishing on July 2. The next day, they lost contact with the boat owner and their families, after their boat’s engine developed a technical snag.
Konaseema District Joint Director (Fisheries) N. Srinivasa Rao said that the four fishermen managed to arrive at Kothapalem village on their boat with a failed engine by Thursday afternoon.
On being alerted by the locals on the arrival of the stranded fishermen, the Konaseema district authorities rushed to the spot, provided preliminary medical care and sent them back to Machilipatnam by road.
According to the stranded fishermen, they managed the three days at sea with their food stocks till July 6. The Eastern Naval Command of the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and State authorities were deployed to search for them.
