00:00I tell you don't give up hope on the man. I tell you that. I tell you go in your
00:03corner and pray. I have my own voice. Not for all of that. I'm glad that the man reached back.
00:08But here we show me. I'm glad to find them and find everybody.
00:12A brief phone video of the St. Vincent 7 on fire sent Monday, July 13th near the maritime border of
00:21Suriname and French Guiana is the last communication families have had since a crew of six fishermen left Shagaramas on
00:29July 6th. That is until around 9 p.m. Tuesday, eight days later.
00:35The crew of four Trinidadians, one Vincentian and one Guyanese, the boat captain, were believed to be alive and adrift
00:44at sea following the vessel fire and desperate public appeals have been made by their families for regional bodies to
00:52launch search and rescue efforts since.
00:54It was the MV Marvel Kite, 349 nautical miles east of Galeota, that observed the fishing vessel in distress last
01:04night. Six people on board who appeared in reasonably good health were rescued, according to the defense minister, who noted
01:13the men would be handed over to a TNT Coast Guard vessel and brought to shore within a few hours'
01:20time.
01:20Although I have not yet had the opportunity to speak with my husband or hear his voice, I have seen
01:28a photograph of him and it is clear that he has endured a terrible ordeal.
01:33Amanda Suraj, wife of fisherman Shannon Joey Muhammad, expressed thanks to all those who assisted and supported her family this
01:42past week, but said she felt disrespected that more than 12 hours since they were located, she had not received
01:50an official call with any information or update.
01:53Anxiously awaiting word on when Mohammed would finally return home, she and her sister called on the authorities to do
02:02more to protect legitimate fishermen.
02:04It is my sincere hope that this incident serves as a wake-up call and that the relevant authorities could
02:14conduct comprehensive audits of vessels to ensure that they are properly equipped with the necessary life-saving equipment and that
02:24all safety regulations are being followed.
02:27The Coast Guard need to help the fishermen at sea in Trinidad and Tobago more.
02:32They need to be outside there more helping these people because there are a lot of things that have happened
02:37to fishermen and we do not get justice for them.
02:40The wife says it's not the first time Mohammed had a near-death experience at sea, but she hopes it
02:47will be the last one.
02:49On August the 13th, 2010, pirates attack him and he'd jump out in the ocean and he would have swam
02:59with someone on his back to save their lives as well.
03:04So, definitely, we hope that he will, as much as he loved the sea, he will never return to the
03:10sea at this point in time.
03:12Cindy Raguba, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
Comments