The Trinidad and Tobago government late Wednesday night confirmed that one of the six crew members aboard the fishing vessel, St Vincent VII, who were reportedly rescued alive after spending several days in distress at sea, has died.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said that ‘in the hours following the rescue of the six-member crew of the fishing vessel ST VINCENT VII, one member of the rescued crew, 66-year-old Trinidadian Anthony Murray started exhibiting signs of shallow breathing, although appearing stable and showing no signs of pain or discomfort.
‘The Ministry of Defence was subsequently advised by the crew of the MV MARVEL KITE that Mr. Murray appeared lifeless within a few hours of the observation, whilst the vessel was en route to St. Lucia for a rendezvous with the crew of Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard vessel CG25.’
It said that following the passing of Murray, a decision was made to divert to St. Vincent for the delivery of the body and a formal declaration of death as well as for medical examination and treatment of the remaining rescued crew members.
The ministry said that once medically examined, the remaining rescued crewmen would be returned to Trinidad by the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard.
‘The Ministry apologizes for the delay in disseminating this announcement as a decision was taken to withhold the announcement of the passing of Murray until his immediate family members were first notified.
‘The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago wishes once more to express its heartfelt gratitude to the crew of MV MARVEL KITE and all others who participated in the search and subsequent rescue of the crew of ST VINCENT VII and to offer sincere condolences to the family of Murray upon his untimely and unfortunate passing.’
The vessel departed Chaguaramas on July 6 with a six-member crew employed in the yellowfin tuna fishing industry. Four of the crew are Trinidad and Tobago nationals, while the others are a Vincentian and a Guyanese captain, Eshwar Persaud, also known as ‘Shanie’.
According to relatives, the fire broke out around 6:30 a.m. (local time), on July 13 while the vessel was operating near the maritime border between Suriname and French Guiana. There has been no contact with the crew since then.
Amanda Suraj, the wife of crew member Shannon ‘Joey’ Mohammed, had appealed for immediate assistance from neighbouring countries and vessels transiting the area.
The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) has since been informed that ‘another of the rescued crewmember’s condition is deteriorating’. The sources did not provide the name or nationality of that crew member.