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Vincentian vessel sinks off Trinidad, 5 crew members missing
RHONDOR DOWLAT-ROSTANT
Five of seven crew members who were said to be onboard St Vincent and the Grenadines cargo vessel MV Fair Chance when went it overturned in waters just off the Bocas, Trinidad, are still missing.
Guardian Media understands that two of the crew members - Vincentians who currently work in Trinidad for a local contractor - were part of the crew onboard the vessel.
One of them was identified as Eric Calliste. Calliste is said to be one of the five crew members who are still missing and feared trapped in the overturned vessel.
Two of the crew members were rescued shortly after the incident, which occurred some time after 3 pm on Saturday. The others were still missing up to early Sunday morning.
Guardian Media was told that the vessel was loaded with steel from the Caricom port in Port-of-Spain and had just departed en route to St Vincent and the Grenadines when the incident happened.
A supervisor at the port, who wished to remain anonymous, told Guardian Media that it is believed that the vessel may have been overloaded and added that there was speculation that the vessel's extra weight was not properly checked by T&T’s Customs and Excise Division's officers before its departure.
According to a release issued by the T&T Coast Guard (TTCG), at about 3.40 pm the TTCG received a report of an overturned vessel with seven people on board some five nautical miles North of Monos Island.
"The vessel named Fair Chance, which is from St Vincent and the Grenadines, encountered rough north coast seas and subsequently overturned due to a shift of the cargo on board. Two of the seven people on board were rescued by a passing vessel and were handed over to the TTCG and taken to Staubles Bay for medical treatment," the release stated.
It added that the TTCG has since deployed assets that are currently involved in rescue operations with the Fair Chance vessel.
It was reported by the St Vincent Times that some of the vessel’s crew members were from Union Island, Carriacou and Grenada.
On Saturday night, MP for the Southern Grenadines, Terrance Ollivierre, told the St Vincent Times: "The bottom of the boat is on top of the water, while the top is beneath the water. Two survived; I was told they were sitting on top of the boat. I was advised they were rescued by a powerboat from Trinidad that was making its way down from the Tobago keys to Trinidad. The Coast Guard would have been notified following the rescue of the two crew members”.
The St Vincent Times reported that the captain of the boat is Dexter Chance and that the MV Fair Chance is a St Vincent and the Grenadines-registered vessel.
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