Four of the seven fishing boats that were left stranded on the Coroni, Suriname shore after pirates attacked on Tuesday arrived at the Number 66 Fish Port Complex yesterday while the others continued working.
Five pirates attacked the crews of 10 fishing boats in the Atlantic Ocean and robbed them of engines, fish and fish glue worth “millions of dollars.” Three of the boats had returned to the complex on Wednesday morning.
Some of the boats drifted to the Coroni shore in Suriname where the crew members awaited rescue and a rescue team from the complex had gone there with engines.
Meanwhile an official from the complex told Stabroek News that they received reports that a suspicious boat was spotted on the Rose Hall shore yesterday. He said a team from the Police Impact Base at Number 62 Village carried out a patrol but were unable to trace the boat.
The official said the ranks only used land transportation and he felt that that prevented them from spotting the boat through the bushy area.
“They had to use river transport because it would not be easy to spot the boat just by going on land. But they tell us they didn’t have transportation to launch the boat in the water,” the official said.
He blasted the ranks for not being prepared to tackle the piracy situation and said a permanent
Coast Guard base is needed. He said government had promised to provide this but so far “it is still a promise.”
According to the official, fishermen who are part of an Anti-Piracy Committee were willing to pursue the “strange” boat using the one that government had presented to them “but we do not have guns to fight back and we cannot go bare hands.”
He said members “put in for the guns for our personal use and for the complex and government promised to give us but up to now they cannot respond.”
Further, he said “government is taking too long to pass the piracy bill; they have no solid spirit to protect the fishermen. They should pay more attention to the fishing industry like they are doing for drainage and irrigation.”
During the Tuesday night raid, the pirates who were armed with a double barrel gun used a grey boat to carry out the first attack. According to reports they pulled up alongside the boat and after they jumped in they proceeded to beat the crew severely with cutlasses.
The owner of the boat told Stabroek News that the pirates ordered his crew to lie face down. They then abandoned the boat they arrived with and compelled his captain to pilot them to the other boats.
According to the owner, the pirates threatened to kill his crew if they did not co-operate. He said the pirates demanded to know who the owner of the boat was but since he is a prominent member of the complex “they gave them a wrong name.”
He said the sea bandits examined his engine and after they realized it was “old” they did not take it. But, he said they took away the anchor from the boat.
They also carted off a quantity of fish and fish glue worth over $300,000 from the boat.
The man said as his captain was heading back to the complex, he pulled in a boat that was drifting after the pirates had made off with the engine. Another crew that was left to drift was rescued by a passing fishing boat.
An official from the complex told this newspaper that the attack occurred even though the alleged head of the piracy ring, Kevin Narine and others were arrested in Suriname.
He said the piracy situation was under control for one month but it has started again since some of the men were granted bail in Suriname.
The official said he would continue the fight to ease the sufferings of the fishermen and said the complex is offering a reward of $500,000 for any information that can lead to the capture of the pirates. Persons can call 338-2328, he said.
