00:00National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hines confirmed at the TV6 News on Sunday that he
00:05received a report regarding the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard's response to a sighting
00:10of a vessel that appeared to contain the remains of five unidentified individuals.
00:15The vessel did not have the usual anchor port, I think it is what it is called, and therefore
00:24they had to link the vessel by its tow line, the Coast Guard that is, to some part of that
00:34vessel, one of the strong points on the vessel in other words.
00:40The Coast Guard spoke of the deteriorated condition of the vessel, which sank when its
00:45patrol boat attempted to tow it.
00:47TV6 News sought clarification from Minister Hines about the tow line.
00:51So it is not from the report I had that it might be the tow line that broke, but rather
00:56the vessel itself in its very deteriorated condition might have come asunder at the strong
01:03point at which the join, the connection was made and that would have been the reason from
01:09what I had heard to the release of the vessel from the Coast Guard vessel after their very
01:15reasonable efforts to retrieving it.
01:19Minister Hines commended the Coast Guard for its response.
01:23So in terms of assets, the Coast Guard were there and engaged in reasonable efforts to
01:30secure the vessel to bring it to a place in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:36The National Security Minister also elaborated on what the Coast Guard saw as that vessel
01:41bearing a striking resemblance to a vessel found off the coast of Tobago in May of 2021
01:48which had reportedly drifted from West Africa with migrants on board.
01:52Minister Hines also spoke about another incident of a vessel having drifted from West Africa
01:57to the Canary Islands.
01:59We are very sympathetic to the loved ones of those who would have suffered those experiences
02:07in the three events of which I have just spoken in the case of the one off the Canary Islands.
02:13It was just one survivor of several on the vessel.
02:17It's a rather sad state of affairs and I'm told from the experts that these vessels are
02:24designed really for coastal activity and not for offshore activity as a drift would have
02:32led them to.
02:34Minister Hines said the information he had at the time of our interview was that the
02:38search for the vessel continues.
02:40Jule Brown, TV6 News.
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