A D Desai, secretary in the Ministry of Fisheries and Port, is confident that the full moon night, on May 28, will bring high tide, which in turn will help the stranded boats and survivors sail into safety.

Pointing out the difficulties in the rescue operation, Desai told Express Newsline that most of the creeks in the mouth of Gulf of Kutch are so shallow that it is difficult to sail a boat. The unfortunate fishermen, who had gone for fishing, may have been stranded on marshy land, he said.

Similarly, he explained, there were many small islands which got submerged in the high tide but the water receded during low tide. In such conditions, only high tide could help them bring their boats ashore. The tide is expected to wash ashore bodies, some of which have been discovered in the past few days.

Desai is optimistic about the fate of the missing fishermen. ``I belive many of them may have reached the coastal villages of Pakistan as they were caught in the cyclone which later moved towards that direction. Citing the case of two fishermen being rescued by Pakistani authorities, he indicated that the state government is establishing contact with the Pakistan government and other fishermen organisations to find out the whereabouts of the fishermen. ``The Ministry of External affairs has already been informed,'' he added.

Desai claimed that the fishermen were warned about the impending cyclone. Those who were within a radius of 10-15 km returned safely, but others who were in the high sea could not make it. Many of them came in the direct path of the cyclone, he pointed out.

However, he claimed that now only about 60 boats were missing and it was possible that many more might return. Porbandar fishermen leader Premjibhai Khokhari, when contacted, however, felt it remained to be seen whether or not the high tide reached the mangrove covered shores and helped the stranded fishermen to sail their boats. There were chances of the high tide bringing in more bodies, he added.