The Trinidad and Tobago government Wednesday said that all six crew members aboard the fishing vessel, St Vincent VII, have been rescued alive after spending several days in distress at sea.
The Ministry of Defence in a statement said that the rescue followed a coordinated response involving a commercial vessel and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard and that all six fishermen had been accounted for and were in reasonably good health, with no remarkable injuries reported.
The vessel departed Chaguaramas, west of here, 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.
She urged regional governments, maritime authorities, coast guards and international search-and-rescue agencies to expand search efforts and remain alert for any sign of the missing vessel or its crew.
In its statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said that the Maritime Operations Command Centre had received a report at on Tuesday night from the crew of the MV Marvel Kite, which was en route to the United States, indicating that while travelling westward approximately 349 nautical miles east of Galeota, they spotted the fishing vessel St Vincent VII which appeared to be in distress.
The crew of the MV Marvel Kite altered course and approached the vessel, where they found six people on board. The ministry said the identities of those rescued matched those of the crew members previously reported missing.
It said that following confirmation that the fishermen had been located, the Maritime Operations Command Centre directed a Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard vessel to rendezvous with the commercial ship.
The rescue brings a successful conclusion to what had become an anxious search for the six-man crew after the fishing vessel was reported missing and although the ministry did not disclose the circumstances that led to the vessel becoming stranded or experiencing difficulties, it said those rescued appeared to have escaped the ordeal without serious injury.
Defence Minister Wayne Sturge expressed the government’s gratitude to the commercial vessel’s crew for their actions, adding that the government appreciated the assistance provided by the MV Marvel Kite. He said further updates on the incident would be released in the coming hours.