Likely that missing fishermen trapped underneath boat- MARAD Captain

It is likely that the three missing fishermen are trapped underneath the vessel that capsized, according to Captain John Flores, who has been tasked with leading the investigation into the incident.

A diving team was dispatched offshore Guyana to locate the three missing fishermen who were aboard the Noble House Seafoods trawler that capsized early Saturday morning.

The men feared dead are: Captain Harold Damon, Winston Sam and Ronald Burton. The trio alongside another seaman, Vincent Dazzell, were working aboard the vessel. Dazzell was rescued by another vessel but the others were not so lucky. Dazzel told the authorities that he floated for three hours before he was rescued by another passing vessel.

Flores, while speaking to the News Room on Tuesday afternoon, related that the dive team managed to locate the fishing net that was attached to the vessel and have demarcated the area to search for the men.

Because diving out in the Atlantic Ocean has been difficult, the divers have been unable to go deeper and search for the missing men.

“They can’t dive in the night.

“In the morning early, they will return early to the scene and they’ll find it then,” Captain Flores said.

He, however, noted that a boat has also been searching elsewhere for the men, in case they drifted away. But, Flores said this is unlikely because Dazzell was interviewed on Tuesday and he related that his fellow seamen did not resurface, hours after the ship capsized.

When asked if that means the men may be trapped beneath the boat, he answered, “Most likely, they’re stuck at the bottom there.”

This team was mobilised by the Ministry of Public Works on Sunday but there has been no sight of the men.

Government officials have lamented that the company did not report the vessel was in distress and as such, assistance was not immediately mobilised.

Consequently, a multi-agency Board of Inquiry has been set up to investigate the incident. Expected distress signals, Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) Director-General Stephen Thomas said, were not issued either.