TEMA: International help sought to find missing Tobago fishermen

TOBAGO Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) director Allan Stewart says the Coast Guard has sought assistance from international agencies to help in the search for the two Tobago fishermen who went missing at sea on February 11.

Albert “BB” James and Junior “Flehbeh” Thorne, both experienced fishermen, set out to sea from Pigeon Point at around 6 am on-board a 28-foot, open-top pirogue, Xena, and were expected to return by 10 am. They are still missing.

Teams comprising the Air Guard, Coast Guard, TEMA, the All Tobago Fisherfolk Association (ATFA) and other groups have been searching for the men despite a Hazardous Seas (Yellow Level) alert being in effect.

Stewart told The Newsday an incident action plan to search for the fishermen was revised to facilitate greater efficiency.

He said four pirogues joined the search on February 13, one of which reached 70 miles out at sea. “This is very close to Grenada but we came up empty-handed,” Stewart said.

He said the Coast Guard, based on its intelligence assets, made contact with international agencies to assist in the search.

"I had a very interesting conversation with the management of the Coast Guard and they did indicate at the operations level, the employment of a number of intelligence assets to allow for them to understand the flow and the possibility as to how they leverage the technology and also local knowledge.

“The use of technology allowed them to share with us the probabilities of what we are looking at. So we looking at, based on the drift pattern, that it is now in the area, by their definition, closer in the Venezuelan waters and therefore, it requires a different type of approach where they are co-ordinating with even some international bodies to assist with the search.”

The Air Guard, he said, also has expanded its search parameter.

Stewart said the safety of the rescue teams is also a priority. He said TEMA is communicating with the men’s families and other stakeholders.

“We are hoping for some success. We are hoping for a miracle. I know of incidents where people have been out there for weeks and they survive as a result of some vessel that may have passed and picked them up. So let us keep them in our prayers.”