Missing fishermen rescued in Mexican waters

The three Tobago fishermen who were reported missing after going fishing out of Pigeon Point on June 26 have been reportedly rescued off the Mexican coast. The men were said to have been rescued by the Mexico Coast Guard some time between Monday and early yesterday. The wife of one of the missing men — two Tobagonians and a Trinidadian — said she was informed early yesterday. Anil “Buss Head” Ramsook, Joseph Ramkisoon and a man said to be from Sangre Grande identified only as “Killer” were reportedly hospitalised in Mexico in serious condition. It was also reported that “Killer” was in critical condition while the other two were stable.

Officials of the TT Coast Guard were yesterday morning reported to be trying to make contact with their Mexican counterparts to establish official, positive confirmation of the rescue. The men were reported missing when they did not return after going on a fishing expedition out of Swallows Bay, Pigeon Point, aboard “Sea Eagle”, a 32-ft pirogue powered by two 85hp outboard engines, registration TFT 1338. They have not been seen since, and a search was mounted by the TT Coast Guard. Regional authorities, including Venezuela’s Guardia Nacional, were put on the alert.

The search was suspended after about two weeks, and the regional marine authorities were asked to remain on the look-out for the missing vessel and its three-man crew. In an interview with Newsday on July 2, the pregnant wife of one of the fishermen — who had asked that neither she nor her husband and, in fact none of the missing men, be identified — reported she had heard from her husband of three years via his cellphone on the evening of June 26 when told her they were heading home. They were supposed to have been fishing in the “shallows” off Pigeon Point. Hours later, she had also told Newsday, she got a message from a friend who told her that her husband had called to say they had experienced engine failure.