A total of 12 fishermen went missing after a ship hit their mechanised boat off the Mangaluru coast in the wee hours of Tuesday.
The fishermen had ventured into the sea on the boat ISB 'Rabah', which set off from Beypore near Kozhikode in Kerala with 14 fishermen on board, the Indian Coast Guard said.
Two of them have been found, they added.
"In a swift sea-air #SAR operation @IndiaCoastGuard deployed 03 #ICG ships & aircraft to search for 14 fishermen of IFB Rabah approx 43 NM west #NewMangalore #today. 02 crew found, search for other crew in progress," the Indian Coast Guard tweeted.
The fishermen belonged to Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Odisha states. The boat was badly damaged in the accident.
Coast Guard ships and helicopters have reached the site and intensified the search for the missing fishermen.