CALANGUTE: The Captain of Ports (CoP) on Friday seized six boats for allegedly carrying more than capacity permitted tourists to Grande Island.
The boats, which are used to take tourists for scuba diving outings in the waters near the island, were seized from Sinquerim jetty and Nerul.
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The boats were seized following investigations into the sinking of a boat, which had a capacity for 36 passengers, near Grande Island, last Sunday.
The boat which sank last Sunday was Kerala-registered and did not have a licence to operate in the State. There were reportedly no passengers on board when it sank.
The boats seized on Friday were also of the same size. The operators also have boats of 28 and 40 seating capacity.
Sources said that the boats were operating without valid permissions and were also carrying excess passengers.
However, the six boats seized on Friday are owned by Goa-based operators and are probably sub-let. The owners only operate boats for dolphin sighting trips and their booking counter only issues tickets for the dolphin trips. The seized boats do not include the dolphin boats, which have a capacity of 14, sources at the Sinquerim watersports jetty said.
Tickets for the scuba diving trips are sold by travel agents elsewhere and the customers are brought to either Sinquerim or Nerul to board the boats. A trip costs Rs 2,200.
