One fisherman is dead and another missing after their boat capsized in the Atlantic Ocean about three miles from land on Friday night.
Terrifying stories were told by those who were rescued, some of whom vowed never to return to sea following their ordeal.
Dead is Junior Duncan called ‘Foots,’ 25, a father of two of Lot 80, St Stephens Street, Charlestown, and missing is 32-year-old Rudy Fernandes of 246, Grove Squatting Area, East Bank Demerara (EBD).
Rescued were the captain of the boat Rasheed Hussain called ‘Baby’ of Craig, EBD, Vitendra Manhor, 36 of 486 Fourth Street, Grove, EBD and Malcolm Welcome, 36, of Lot 15, New Hope, EBD.
The five men were crew members of the William II owned by Guyana Quality Seafood Ltd, New Hope, EBD.
Duncan’s reputed wife, Linda Joaquin, said that the captain reported to her that he was swimming with the man when he went under. His body was recovered yesterday.
Fernandes’s sister, Anita Fernandes, said that on Saturday evening they received a call informing them that one of the boats owned by the company had sunk. She said they immediately made contact with the relatives of the boat owner who told them that no boat had gone under.
However, their relief was short lived as at around 11 pm it was confirmed that the boat her brother was on had indeed gone down and that he was one of the men missing. She said that yesterday morning they went to the captain’s house and it was again confirmed. The grieving woman said that her brother had been working at sea for a number of years as it was the only work he knew. She claimed that he was owed in excess of $200,000.
Hussain told Stabroek News yesterday that it was about 11 pm on Friday night, nine days after they had left their homes, that the trawler encountered problems and started listing. He said they were in the process of pulling up a net when the boat capsized tossing them into the water. The captain said they ended up holding onto the bottom of the boat since it was upside down, and he told his crew members not to try to swim but rather allow the water to sweep them in to land because they would become tired if they attempted to swim. He said soon they were all washed off the hull of the boat by some huge waves.
He related that he lost sight of the other crew members, and he allowed his body to move with the water. It was about 7 am on Saturday morning that he managed to get hold of a fish pen in the ocean. Hussain said by this time he was tired and weak, and the constant swallowing of salt water caused diarrhoea, weakening his system even more. He was naked, he said, as he had long since got rid of his clothes because they would have weighed him down.
He held on to the post for some time until the tide changed, and he once again began to float, this time with the intention of reaching the Demerara River channel and clinging to a buoy which was located in that area. He had been on the verge of giving up as the buoy was nowhere in sight, but just as that thought ran through his head he caught sight of a boat and, “barely raise me hand and dem come and rescue me.”
He then contacted the owner of the vessel as well as some relatives of the four men, whom he had feared were dead.
Hussain, who has vowed not to return to sea, said it was the first time he had captained that particular boat as his usual vessel was under repair. His skin bears bruises and cuts from the hours he spent in the water.
But while Hussain was rescued on Saturday afternoon, Manhor had to endure the sea for several hours more, and did not make it to land until about 1 am yesterday morning. His ordeal did not end there, as owing to his weakened state he was forced to crawl on his hands and knees to seek help. While a woman pitied him, some men in the Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara community chased him without offering any assistance.
Lying on a chair in his home yesterday afternoon, Manhor, who said he found it difficult to sit up, recalled that after they had been swept into the water, he, Fernandes and Welcome found each other when the three of them sought refuge on top of a fish pen in the ocean. He estimated that around 11.30 am on Saturday morning the tide changed, and he and Fernandes decided to float again in an attempt to reach land. He said Welcome had injured a hand and he decided to remain on top of the pen while they promised to send a boat for him once they found help.
According to Manhor, he and Fernandes called out to each other while they floated. However, after a time he got no response, and found himself continuing his journey alone. Monhor said that his hand became very weak and he thought he would not have made it. The water carried him as far as Parika and when the tide changed course he was swept down back to Cornelia Ida; it was there he held onto a fish pen around 8.30 pm on Saturday night. He said that his legs by this time were suffering cramps and were of no use to him, but he decided that he would swim to land because he felt it was near. He related how he started to swim but then felt himself going down. However, when he did so he could feel mud and this rejuvenated him because he realized he was close to land and he began to swim in earnest.
The fisherman said when he landed he had to crawl on his hands and knees because he could not use his feet and he reached a house after crossing the seawall. He said that a woman and her son were at home and she was afraid to open the door, but she saw the condition he was in, that he was shivering and his skin was white, and so she gave him a sheet. He then sat down against the woman’s fence. That was about 1 am yesterday morning. He said the woman advised him to go to a shop in the area and inform the men who were drinking there about his plight.
“I try and reach the shop but dem people chase me. I tell dem wah happen to me but dem tell me dem ent want hear nothing and to move away. I ent know if it is because how I look but me ent do nothing and I went back to the woman and I tell she how dem chase me. I ask she if she could give me some tea but she say she ent have nothing to mek tea. I ask she to just hot some water and put some sugar and give me,” Manhor said. He said he told the woman he intended to rest against her fence and sleep but she then sent her son to open the door and told him to use the hammock to sleep in. “She give the tea and some rice with salt as she said she didn’t have nothing else, and I eat it and sleep.” Yesterday morning early the woman went to a neighbour who called the man’s relatives who then came to get him.
“I am grateful to that woman; she treat me good and she would be like family to me now because I woulda dead if she didn’t help me.”
Manhor said that he had no intention of returning to sea even though this was his first such experience. He has been working at sea for many years, but he would search for another job in order to maintain his wife and two children.
And while Stabroek News was unable to speak to Welcome, his reputed wife and mother of his two children Merisa Haywood said he was fine. Stabroek News was at the woman’s house when she received news that her husband had been found alive. She recalled that it was on Saturday afternoon she heard that he was missing, and yesterday afternoon when contacted by phone Haywood said her husband was home but was very weak and was finding it difficult to move. He had been rescued by the owner of the boat while clinging to the top of the fish pen where Manhor and Fernandes had left him.
She said her husband, who had been working as a seaman for only eight months, had said he would no longer be working with that company. The woman was very critical of the treatment she had received from her husband’s workplace. She said that she and other relatives had gone to the location and had only been able to see the security guard.
The guard told them that management was in a meeting and that he had no news for them. She said after standing for se
veral hours they had been forced to leave after nightfall. They had later made a report to the Ruimveldt Police Station where the captain’s wife learnt that he had survived.
Meanwhile, Hussain and other fishermen, who did not want to be named, were critical of the conditions under which they work. While Hussain has been working for that particular company for only eight months, he has worked with other companies all of which take the safety of their employees lightly.
He said the vessels have no life jackets or life boats, items that are critical to the safety of the crew should they encount-er difficulties. Hussain said a few years ago a boat he was in caught fire and they had to abandon it as there were no fire extinguishers on board to put out the flames.
“Dem is dah kinda thing wah we fishermen does go through. I would like the Ministry of Fisheries workers to visit all dem boat that does go out to sea and see how unsafe all a dem is,” the man said.
Other fishermen who were present while Hussain was speaking confirmed his complaints while pointing out that if any of them objected they would be fired.
“You can’t talk fuh you rights because dem does fire you. If forty captains come together and say dem ent working because of the conditions, eighty more would line up to work. We can’t come together and do anything because people have dem family to look after and dem go only think about dat,” one fisherman said. They pointed out that there is no National Insurance Scheme (NIS) payment for employees and they are not given fixed salaries. Hussain also said that Guyana Seafood had a policy of making captains sign contracts making them responsible for any injury to themselves or the crew members.
Stabroek News attempted to speak to the owner of the boat Hussain and his crew had been on, but calls to the company went unanswered and a visit to their location produced the response that the owner was out looking for his boat.
