Hijacked fishing boat recovered, but still no sign of missing fishermen

May 30, 2016 News

The missing fishing boat in last Friday’s piracy attack has been recovered by the owner minus the three missing crewmen. Speaking to this publication, the vessel’s owner, Mohammed Hussian Arran stated that he located his boat at the No. 52 Foreshore.
“Me and some other people go out fuh search for de man dem and me boat but awe only find de boat and one ah de engine.”
The brutal pirate attack carried late Friday evening resulted in the death of crew member, 44 year old Hemchand Sukdeo, whose body was pulled in the seine of another fishing boat.
Sukdeo’s three other colleagues were reportedly thrown overboard by the pirates and they have not been seen or heard from since.
The captain Seepersaud Persaud, who was also thrown overboard during the initial stages of the attack managed to stay afloat until he was rescued by another boat.
Arran, the distraught boat owner stressed that this is not the first time his crew has been attacked but this is the first time, he lost workers. He mentioned that fishermen go out to sea to make an honest living and are targeted by hapless criminals who refuse to work.
“Right now me frighten fah go tell dem people wah going on. Just lil lil bit information me giving dem till we find dem man alive or dem body”, Arran said.

Missing Munesh Churman

Boat owner Mohammed Hussain Arran

The boat owner stated that he remains hopeful that his missing crew members are still alive.
Meanwhile this publication contacted the family of the missing men.
Speaking to the wife of 26 year old Munesh Churman called “Boyo”, she stated that she is still living in hope that her husband is alive. The woman described her husband of four years as a very hardworking and loving father to his two children whose ages are two years and three months.
“He is very hard working and loves his children a lot, and that makes it very difficult for me, since our daughter steady asks for her dada.”
A search party has since been deployed to locate the missing men. Family members remain hopeful that the missing crewmen will return home safely.
On Friday around 23:00 hours, boat captain Seepersaud Persaud, 43, of No.78 Village, Corentyne, and four crew members were aboard a boat in the Lower Shell area, Nickerie, when another boat with five men armed with cutlasses came up alongside.
The armed men boarded Persaud’s boat and took away two 48hp outboard motor engines, tied up the four crew members and threw Persaud overboard.
Seepersaud, relating to this newspaper the dreadful ordeal, stated that the hijackers came on board his boat and drove it ashore where they proceeded to remove the engine. He said that the men then tied up his crew and demanded that he throw them over board.

Munesh Churman’s wife Tajpatie Suseran and their two children

“One of dem start holler seh lemme throw dem overboard and me start beg and me beg dem and because me beg, them throw me overboard and go away with me crew,” Persaud said.
He was subsequently rescued by the crew of another fishing vessel in the area after drifting for some time.
Later, when another fishing crew was pulling up their seine they found the body of Hemchand Sukhdeo, caught in the seine.
The area was searched but neither Persaud’s vessel nor the other three crew members were located.
While at sea Persaud managed to contact persons at the No.66 Fishing Complex and informed them of the incident and gave a description of the boat that was used by the perpetrators
On Saturday, acting on information received, the police went to the No.65 Village Foreshore, Corentyne, where they saw a boat matching the description of the one that the pirates were in. Five men who were aboard have been arrested and are in police custody assisting with the investigations.
Kaieteur news understands that the boat is linked to persons who are suspected pirates.
Police have confirmed that two other fishing vessels were attacked that same night. However their crew has returned to shore with the vessels intact.
“Based on the reports we receive, they were attacked by the same set of pirates,” a source in the Corentyne told Kaieteur News.
Commander of the Police Berbice Division, Ian Amsterdam told Kaieteur News that the Suriname Police authorities have been informed of the incident.
“They are willing to work with us,” Amsterdam said.
Investigations are still in progress.

1 thoughts on “Hijacked fishing boat recovered, but still no sign of missing fishermen”

Cotton_Candy May 30, 2016 at 10:24 pm

The Guyana government needs to look into this crime a.s.a.p. this is going on for many years and needs to be stopped, these men have families to support and this this what they do for a living. If they don’t have fishermen do think we would get fishes in the market, so give them the protection that is needed.