| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Suriname Waters: Fishermen Missing After Pirate Attack |
| 2009-10-30 |
| Fishermen missing after pirate attack A search has been launched for two East Coast Demerara fishermen who are missing after two Guyanese fishing boats were attacked by pirates in Suriname waters around 7 pm on Wednesday, the pirates taking the two men hostage while escaping. The missing men, whose names were given only as ‘Brown of Bare Root and ‘Micky of Good Hope, both East Coast Demerara villages, were working on the boat, ‘Prince Oman along with the vessels captain, known as Suresh; 39 year old Shaheed Ahmad of Vigilance, East Coast Demerara and 29 year old Venkataragavan Raghunauth of Triumph, East Coast Demerara. Speaking to this newspaper at the hospital last evening, Ahmad said that he and his colleagues were working on the vessel, which operates in Surinames and Guyanas waters in accordance with the required permits, around 7 on Wednesday night in the vicinity of Caroni, an area in Suriname waters, when they were attacked by five masked men in a small boat. He said the men pulled up alongside their boat, demanding valuables while shooting at them and proceeded to “empty out the boat”, placing him and his friends in another fishing boat which was also attacked but whose crew members were unharmed. He said the men then damaged parts of the boat he was working on and also destroyed the vessels engine. According to the experienced fisherman, the pirates took his two colleagues, Micky and Brown with them as they escaped with more than $6M worth of fish, fishing seines and other equipment which were being used at the time. He said sometime that evening they were rescued by a ‘Banga Mary boat which took them to shore in the Nickerie area in Suriname. The incident was reported to police in the neighbouring country as the men sought treatment at medical facilities there before travelling to Georgetown to seek further treatment last evening. Ahmad said he and his rescued colleagues made contact with their families and the boats owner from Suriname early yesterday morning, informing them of their dilemma. The missing vessel is owned by one N.Oman of Mon Repos, who told this newspaper at the hospital last evening that this was the third occasion she and her husbands fishing vessels suffered at the hands of pirates. The woman told SN that her husband and the missing vessels captain have since ventured out to sea in search of the missing men and the vessel. She and her relatives stated that the authorities should work harder to curb piracy, noting that the Agriculture Minister had promised on several occasions to address the matter. One of the womans relatives stated that the Coast Guard, “instead of harassing fishermen for money and goods”, should try to protect fisher folk working at sea noting, that there had been many meetings in the past between fishermen and the authorities on the issue of protection of fishermen from pirates. |
| Posted by:Lumpy Elmoluck5091 |