Belize Coast Guard rescues 7 people after vessel capsizes
The Belize Coast Guard (BCG) reports that seven people were successfully rescued three miles from Sarteneja Village in the Corozal District when their vessel began sinking on Sunday.
According to the report, six staff from the Crimson Inn in Chunox Village were onboard the ship bound for San Pedro when it began taking in water.
The boat skipper did, however, able to transmit a distress call to the BCG, who later discovered the vessel submerged with two persons finding near the vessel and five others adrift on an icebox.
According to Petty Officer First Class Dobian Montero, BCG Commander located in Consejp, the weather was particularly poor on Sunday and “the sea state was very rough.”
He stated that the search and rescue team spotted what looked to be “an object submerged in water” and proceeded to it before realizing that the vessel had capsized.
“At the time, there were two males hanging from the bow of the ship.” When we arrived, they informed us that there were another five people drifting on the water, making a total of seven people.
“The lookout spotted a white object about a kilometer away from us, and as we approached, we noticed some shadows around the object.” It was an icebox, and fortunately, the five people were clinging to it. We rescued them from the ocean and got them on our ship.”
“We learned from the vessel’s owner that the vessel dipped and took in water, which caused the engine to lose power and shut down.” With all of that sea state, the boat was being bounced around, and evidently the hull of the vessel fractured, which was a big role in the vessel capsize,” he continued.
He stated that while no serious injuries were reported from the crew, they were dehydrated.