Fishing trip turns 22-day saga of survival
A fisherman from Andhra Pradesh survived a 22-day ordeal after his maiden deep-sea fishing trip for tuna went awry in the Bay of Bengal. The incident underscores the risks faced by traditional fishers transitioning to deep-sea operations amid India's growing tuna export industry.
Why it matters
It sheds light on the economic pressures driving small-scale fishers into dangerous deep-sea waters and the lack of safety infrastructure.
When 49-year-old Koppanathi Ramakrishna set sail into the Bay of Bengal at around 9 a.m. on August 3, 2026, he expected to return in a fortnight with a boatload of tuna, in particular yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). Instead, his maiden deep-sea fishing voyage turned into a 22-day ordeal, leaving him and his six-member crew adrift hundreds of nautical miles from home, with dwindling food and supplies and no way to contact their families.
The journey had begun with hope and careful planning. Ramakrishna, who had only fished in the waters of the Vynateya, a branch of the Godavari River that meets with the Bay of Bengal at Komaragiripatnam in Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema district, was determined to venture into the deep-sea to catch the tuna, one of the most prized oceanic fisheries resource.
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