Hyderabad: Twelve fishermen, who had ventured into the Bay of Bengal from Kakinada five days back, have reportedly gone missing and government authorities have launched a search operation to trace them.

Twelve fishermen had ventured into the Bay of Bengal on June 17 from Kakinada in two boats. Some other fishermen were sailing along with them in other boats. However, family members of these twelve fishermen received a message on Saturday stating that the engines of their boats developed a technical snag, East Godavari District Collector Arun Kumar said on Sunday.

Based on the information, a search operation was launched Saturday and continued on Sunday, he said. Even as contact could be established with other fishermen, the twelve fishermen were yet to be traced, the Collector said adding: But we cannot call those twelve fishermen missing yet. We have not yet got their whereabouts. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu enquired about the fishermen, Arun Kumar said adding that based on Naidu's direction, the district administration requested Reliance Industries, ONGC, Cairn Energy India Ltd to deploy their helicopters to locate the boats.

Besides the three choppers owned by these companies, two Coast Guard ships were also pressed into service in the search operation, he said. Even as the East Godavari district administration is taking all measures to find them, heavy rains are lashing parts of the district for the last two days, he added. Meanwhile, according to a press release issued by the state government, Naidu reviewed the situation in the state in the wake of incessant rains. The officials have been asked to remain alert in the wake of heavy flow of water to Godavari due to rains in Chhattisgarh and Telangana.