RESCUE teams are expected to return to the waters off Pigeon Point, Tobago, on February 13, to continue the search for two fishermen who went missing on February 11.
The men, Albert “BB” James and Junior “Flehbeh” Thorne, set out to sea from Pigeon Point, at around 6 am, onboard a 28-foot, open-top pirogue, Xena, and were expected to return by 10 am.
But up to publication on February 12, they were unaccounted for.
Teams comprising members of the TT Air Guard, Coast Guard, Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA), All Tobago Fisherfolk Association (ATFA) and other groups, began searching for the men early on February 12, but choppy waters caused them to end the search by mid-afternoon.
When Newsday visited Pigeon Point around 1.30 pm, a fishing crew, which was part of the search-and-rescue operation, had just returned.
Crew member Martineau Roberts, a Pigeon Point fisherman, said he was among the first to report the men’s disappearance.
He said, “They went to sea early yesterday morning (February 11) to set out fish pots. Apparently, difficulty may have stepped in, but we can’t answer to say what difficulty stepped in. All we know was that there was some difficulty out at sea.
“We were expecting them back in by 10 am. I didn’t want to send out the bulletin too early. So I hold back the bulletin until about two, three o’clock (in the afternoon) and that’s when I start making calls to people to let them know that two fishermen were out at sea.”
But Martineau said there were no fishermen around when he issued the bulletin, “because besides fishing, some of them have different type of jobs.
“We ended up getting a message to them. But when they came, it was already too late, so we could not have made any move. So we put all plans for today (February 12). We come together, we buy gas, refreshments and we supply some of the boats.
“Also, we had other boats from different parts of Tobago, like Scarborough, Speyside, Castara, Charlotteville, Bloody Bay, all these places was looking out today for us.”
But Martineau said the choppy waters caused them to end the search prematurely.
“The water was getting more and more bad by the minute. The current is very strong, the wind is very strong and the waves is very bad. It was actually beating your body. That can tell you how rough it is, because some of the fishermen, when they come in, they couldn’t even talk. They had to rest before they could say something.”
As such, he believes the Air Guard must now play a more critical role in the operation.
“The search would not be a boat search any more. We have to do air. Everything have to do by the air. So we asking for the air guards, coast guards and pilots who may be flying to look out for these guys.
“We might still have a boat in case they find a boat or see something around the area that we could use to look to see what is taking place.”
Martineau said five fishing crews went searching for the men, whom he described as experienced fishers.
Asked what he felt could have gone wrong, Martineau said,
