KOCHI: A Kerala police team on Friday took a Chinese officer of Panama-flagged vessel M V Izumo into custody in connection with the incident in which the vessel rammed a fishing dinghy off Kozhikode coast.

Police officials said that the second officer of the vessel identified as Yelei was taken into custody for questioning and he was brought to Coastal Police Station in Fort Kochi.

“We need to get some details and the crew of the vessel is cooperating with us,” the officials added.

It was on Wednesday that the merchant vessel hit the dinghy identified as FB AL Ameen , which sank in the collision. The three fishermen, who were on the dinghy, jumped into the sea as they saw the approaching vessel. They were rescued by another fishing boat in the vicinity.

The vessel left the scene immediately after the accident. Based on a complaint lodged by the fishermen, the Indian Coast Guard launched a hunt to track the vessel and finally impounded it 12 nautical miles off Kochi coast. The vessel, owned by owned by NYK-Hinode Line Limited, Tokyo, Japan, was proceeding to Singapore from Kandla port in Gujarat.

The vessel is currently under the custody of the Indian Coast Guard. A team of police personnel and Marine Mercantile Department (MMD) has launched a probe into the incident. There were 21 crew in the ship which included 19 Chinese, one Taiwanese and one from Myanmar.

