Security forces launched a search yesterday for a five fishermen who were left in an unidentified area after gun-toting pirates hijacked their boat in the Atlantic Ocean, off the Mahaicony foreshore, East Coast Demerara.
Up to late last evening, members of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard were still trying to locate the missing men. The hijacking occurred around 10:30 am yesterday, shortly after the three gunmen had descended on another fishing vessel and robbed the crew of gasoline and an outboard engine.
In a press statement last evening, police identified the pirates as three men who were all armed with guns. Police said that investigations have revealed that the pirates attacked the two vessels and held the crew members at gunpoint as they were fishing in the ocean. The men first attacked the vessel captained by a man police identified only as “Walter,” and its four-member crew. They took away the boat’s 48-horse power outboard engine and a drum of gasoline, leaving the boat with its crew adrift.
The pirates then proceeded to the fishing boat named Mark Counter 2, captained by a man whose name was given as “Kenneth,” and manned by a crew of four. They boarded the vessel and sailed away with the captain and crew aboard.
According to the police, from information received, the crew was later put ashore in an area not yet identified and at the time the statement was issued efforts were still being made by the police and the Coast Guard to locate them.
Meanwhile, “Walter” and his four crew members were rescued after a replacement engine was provided by the owner of the two vessels. They were also assisting in the search for the other crew members, the police added.
In recent times, there has been an increase of armed attacks on fishermen while they are at sea. The last attack was late last month when a captain and his three-man crew were robbed of their fish by pirates armed with guns. Police had said that Richard Mangal and his crew members were fishing in the vicinity of Crabwood, Waini River when they were attacked by four men. The pirates pulled up alongside Mangal’s boat and held him and his crew at gunpoint. Mangal and his crew were relieved of their fish and the pirates then escaped.
