By: Amar Persaud
Family members of 46-year-old Winston Sam – one of the three fishermen who went missing at sea – are holding out hope that the crew members are still alive.
Sam along with Harold Damon, 44, and Ronald Burton, 78, went missing after the fishing vessel which they worked on capsized on Saturday morning in the Atlantic Ocean some 18 miles off of the Mahaicony Coast. The vessel is owned by Noble House Seafoods and family members claim that the company is yet to reach out to them.
A fourth crew member survived the ordeal after being rescued by another fishing boat and was brought to shore on Saturday afternoon.
In an interview with INews, Sam’s sister Pamela recalled begging her brother not to go out to sea due to the dangers of the job. The sister explained that Sam is new to the fishing industry and she was worried about his safety.
“We spoke before he went out to sea because this last time, I did not want him to out on sea. I told him not go, I told him because it got a lot of pirating out there and I was very skeptical about it. Apparently, he got very angry and never did call me back and tell me that he was leaving,” the sister lamented.
Before working in the fishing industry, Sam earned a living as a porter. This was his fourth time voyaging out to the deep sea.
“He really don’t be working in the fishing industry. This about the fourth time he went out there,” the sister explained.
Sam has no children but has been married for several years. The sister described him as a “cool, humble person”. “He was very hardworking,” she noted.
Pamela is hoping the family gets some information soon about what exactly transpired. According to her, the family is still hopeful that the missing crew members are still alive.
“So many different stories you hearing, up to now I’m still struggling to get a grip of what is really happening. So far, we heard the boat sank and nobody never really notified the family until about 7 ‘o’clock in the night and this happened since in the morning.”
“Noble House is not contacting anybody; we did not receive any calls or any such things to give us any information on what is really going on.”
“I am still hoping, I still have my fingers crossed, that not he alone but the others are alive out there and I’m praying to God that they find him. So far, there’s a lot of people out there in the search for them and I do hope that by this afternoon we get some word or something.”
The woman also lauded the efforts taken by the government officials to help find the missing men.
“This morning they had a meeting by the Ministry of Agriculture and so far, I’m steady, because we got some word, we feel satisfied. They put out divers, they did whatever they had to do to assist us from their part.”
The Ministry of Public Works announced that an independent panel was established comprising representatives of the Ministry, Maritime Administration Department (MARAD), the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, the Guyana Police Force Marine Unit, and the Transport and Habours Department to investigate this matter.
The surviving fisherman, Vincent Dazzell, told family members of the three missing men that the vessel, started taking in water early Saturday morning.
Dazzell claimed that he was awoken by the captain sometime after 06:00h to check the boat, when he saw the engine room, ice-hold and ladder were already under water.
At that point, the captain called in to alert Noble House but lost connection whilst talking to them, the survivor related. He further recalled that as the boat sank deeper, they also lost control of the vessel.
The man told the concerned family members that the crew were separated on two sides of the boat – he was with the captain. Dazzell related that the captain instructed him to cut the lifeboat and went inside to get his phone so that he could try calling for help, when the boat capsized and reportedly pinned the three missing men.
The survivor informed relatives that he was in the water for some time before being rescued by another boat. The fisherman claimed that they circled the area for some three hours before heading back to shore.
Upon arrival, he went to Noble House and informed the managers there of what transpired.
Sam resided Lot 32 Public Road, McDoom, Greater Georgetown; Damon at Lot 4 Water Street, Agricola, Greater Georgetown; and 78-year-old Ronald Burton at Lot 23 Water Street, Agricola, Greater Georgetown. Dazzell also hails from Agricola, Greater Georgetown.
