Hivvaru boat was found capsized

The Maldivian Embassy in Sri Lanka has said that they had received information, that the eight Maldivians found at sea by a Sri Lankan fishing vessel were the victims of a capsized Maldivian boat.

Defence Advisor of the Maldivian High Commission in Sri Lanka told Sun Online today that the Sri Lankan fishing vessel found the eight Maldivians near the capsized boat, and that all eight people are now safely on board the Sri Lankan vessel.

“The capsized boat was found by a Sri Lankan fishing vessel. They assume that it was a Maldivian fishing boat. They informed that eight people were found, and that all eight people were taken on board their vessel. They [the eight people] are safely under their supervision, they’ve informed. Maldives has been requested to arrange their transfer,” the Defence Advisor said.

He noted that it is not yet clear if the capsized vessel was Hivvaru boat.

Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Spokesperson Colonel Abdul Raheem Abdul Latheef said today that the eight people taken on board the Sri Lankan fishing vessel about 290 miles east of Ga. Dhaandhoo last night belonged to Hivvaru boat, which was reported missing nine days ago.

He said that the Coast Guard vessel which departed last night has still not arrived at the scene of the incident, and that information will be shared with the media as it is received.

Hivvaru boat went missing on the night of 29 November, after it departed from Male’ en route to Addu.

MNDF commenced efforts to search for Hivvaru immediately, but without success.

Coast Guard has said that seven Maldivian men and one foreign national were on board Hivvaru.