Fishermen swam 20 miles to safety after boat mishap in Atlantic Ocean

Feb 09, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – Six fishermen were last Sunday rescued by members of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Coast Guard, in the vicinity of Iron Punt Foreshore, Pomeroon River.

The men reportedly survived the ordeal, by helping each other to swim some 20 miles to safety, after their boat sank last Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean.

GDF in a release stated that it had learnt of the fishermen’s plight on Saturday after receiving a distress report that a fishing vessel had lost propulsion in the Atlantic Ocean.

The rescued fishermen posing for a photo with the coast guards who rescued them.

A search and rescue operation was initiated around noon that same day to locate the vessel in distress.

When the Coast Guard arrived at the location, they found debris and an icebox at a foreshore and soon realized that the vessel had sunk. They began looking for survivors, but could not locate the fishermen that afternoon. The following day (Sunday) they returned to the area and found that members of the six-man fishing crew had survived the ordeal.

According to the GDF, the men were rescued some 20 miles west from where their boat sank. The survivors reportedly told the ranks that their boat sank on Thursday and “they supported each other as they swam ashore”. They were transported to the GDF Coast Guard Headquarters at Port Georgetown and reunited with their families on Monday.

• Atlantic ocean, boat, coast guards, fishermen, GDF, rescued, sunk