u/PretendStress5409

This happened in March though my Google search showed it as 4 days old. The article text is here in case the link doesn't work:

"Staff Correspondent
Sri Vijaya Puram, Mar. 05: Two fishermen were reportedly found fishing near the restricted waters of North Sentinel Island, which falls under a protected tribal reserve area, during an early morning patrol on last Saturday.
According to a statement given by Head Constable R.A. Swinli (43), who is posted with the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRBn) and serving as Personal Security Officer (PSO) to the DIGP (Law and Order), the incident occurred on March 1 at around 5:45 a.m.
The police team, along with the DIGP (Law and Order) and other senior officers, was on a circumnavigation duty around North Sentinel Island. They were travelling on a private fishing boat when they noticed a small fishing dinghy anchored in the sea at a distance of about 100 to 200 meters from the island. Two persons were seen fishing close to the island.
When questioned, the two individuals identified themselves as Mahesh Mundari and Ravi Ram Naskar, both residents of Wandoor. They also informed the team that the dinghy they were using belonged to a resident of Wandoor.
The police team informed the fishermen that the area around North Sentinel Island is a notified tribal reserve and that fishing or entering the area is strictly prohibited. The fishermen were asked to leave the area immediately.
However, the fishermen reportedly responded that they would leave after having tea.
Authorities have stated that since the fishermen had entered the restricted tribal reserve area and were fishing near the island, the act constitutes a violation of the law. According to sources both were later arrested for this offence and were later released on bail. Further investigations are on."

https://andamansheekha.com/152806/

March is dry season there, with safer weather conditions. Wandoor is the nearest fishing village to North Sentinel and their fisherman seem to be regular trespassers. Given they fish at night and how close they go to the beach it's a matter of time until there's another accidental grounding followed by confrontation.

It's good to see so many people supporting no contact. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the islanders are in line for more contact with outsiders with the predictable violent results and more infection risk.

In his 2018 journal, John Allen Chau noted "numerous rocky coral that just (sic) out of the cove having lines (thick) wrapped around them" and attributed them to outside fishermen (poachers). He was probably right that non-islanders fixed those lines. They're useful moorings for larger boats that fish the area or choose to overnight there. Sentinelese are known to make their own thin ropes from natural fibers but these lines don't fit the description.

It's less than four years since three non-islanders are presumed to have died on Sentinel. Even if the fishermen carefully watch where they're going, it's a matter of time until the next fishing boat is wrecked or beached. The seas are rough, much rougher than they look from a satellite view. The area gets high winds so something as simple as engine failure is a death sentence if you're on the windward side of the shore.

A point that isn't considered enough is that the mere act of killing and burying unwanted people exposes the Sentinelese to pathogens. It's commonly thought they bring down people easily with their arrows but an arrow hit can be survivable for quite a while. The islanders need to finish off the victims at close quarters and also verify they're dead. This is where transmission of airborne disease can happen (if the victim is still breathing) and also the transfer of bacteria or blood from skin, lice from hair, etc.

Then of course with the burial act they handle the body again.

The Sentinelese probably have some notion that foreigners mean sickness but their actions suggest they don't know how it happens.

The Andamans have a rapidly growing population and demand for protein goes up all the time. It's known some Andaman residents already resent the Sentinelese and their exclusion zone. Local politicians are taking a more anti-Sentinelese stance. That's why I think violent clashes are bound to become a frequent, maybe yearly, event unless the Indian state cracks down hard.

Hearing that Burmese boats also come by is more bad news. Myanmar is a war zone and they're more likely to be armed than Indians.

How well do the Andamanese know North Sentinel Island? Chau's experience suggests the fishermen know it very well. The boat that took him there must have made many prior visits because they knew where to take him. Chau wasn't there to fish but to meet people - as many as possible - so his mission was opposite to the fishermen. But the fishermen, who always took care not to have run-ins with the Sentinelese, would have known where the settlements were.

The Sentinelese needless to say resent the fishing boats and probably have memorized some of them, not by the registration numbers but probably by their color, profile, etc.