Four men are now missing after they went in aid of another boat off the Atlantic Ocean that had encountered mechanical issues.
The quartet left the shores on November 16 and were not seen nor heard from since even thou the boat that made the distress call returned to shore.
The missing men were identified as Vickram Singh, of Longpond, West Bank Demerara (WBD); Worrin Yipsam also called “Powas” of Herstelling, East Bank Demerara (EBD); Hazrat Razack called “Denno” of Belle West Canal No.2, WBD and Cicil Persaud also called “Dallas” of Sisters Village, WBD.
When contacted, Subrina Bahadur, the daughter of Hazrat Razack told the Guyana Times that the men would have received a distress call via radio through Exxon from their colleagues who had gone out to sea since November 5.
However, she noted that the men left in a small boat with a battery and an alternator to fix the bigger boat.
“The distress call was for them to take in a battery and alternator… this is not the first time, they went out with the small boat… the other boat is co-owned by my father so, if anything happens, at sea, they would contact him and he would go…but he normally takes like 2-3 days before he returns, but this is not the case this time…”
Bahadur noted that they became worried after ‘Red Snapper’ the boat which her father and three others went to bring in returned on Friday morning.
“The crew, when asked about my father, uncle and the others, they told us that they didn’t see them and that it was another vessel that was passing assisted them to fix the boat.”
The relatives of the other men were contacted and despite them going out at sea to look for them, they came up empty-handed. “They went out to try and locate them but they didn’t see anyone… the boat that broke down was not far from the Exxon rig… we radioed them as well but they say they didn’t see any boat…”
The worried daughter stated that the coast guards and the police were informed of the situation. We know that the coast guards and so went out to search but up to late this afternoon (Friday) we didn’t hear back anything… we are hoping for the best… they are seasoned seamen and all we have to do is have faith and that they will come back,” Razack’s daughter added.