MARAD probing report of six missing fishers

The Maritime Administration Depart-ment says it is currently investigating the incident in which  six fishermen went missing on December 26, 2013.

A statement from MARAD yesterday said “On the 2nd and 3rd January 2014 respectively, MARAD officials conducted an investigation with the owner of Invincible 3 and the wife of the Captain. This investigation revealed conflicting reports from both the owner and the wife of the Captain as regards this incident. “MARAD is awaiting further information from an official in Venezuela in relation to this incident. It has been reported that the crew are all accounted for and are alive.”

According to reports, the boat which departed the Meadow Bank wharf on December 12, was operating in the Shell Beach area when it overturned.

When contacted on December 31st, Rajendra Narine, the owner of the boat, who lives at Plantation Andrews on the Essequibo Coast, told Stabroek News  he had no information concerning the boat or its occupants.

“I didn’t hear nothing yet about the crew. People calling me whole day and they telling me different stories so I don’t have anything solid to work with,” he said.  “I can’t start searching either because I don’t have no good direction as to where to go.”

He added that he has been keeping in close contact with the wife of the boat captain, Nathan Bacchus called ‘Joe’, but he could not say who the other men on the boat were the day that it left the port.