A search off the south of Takoradi along the Western coast of the country for missing eight sailors, who were among a crew of 25 in a capsized vessel, has been called off after four days.
Public Relations Officer of the 2-Garrison, Enoch Tetteh Opata, said the Western Naval Command, which was leading the search mission for the missing sailors, ended the operation that began last Friday.
Ghanaian-own fishing vessel, MV Comforter II, on May 6, 2022, sank offshore 46-nautical miles South of Saltpond, and the Western Naval Command said 16 people were rescued, while a body was recovered, out of the total number of persons on the vessel.
Reports said among the missing sailors were Ghanaians and a Chinese, and they were fishing in a stormy environment when the disaster struck.
Mr. Opata told Citi FM yesterday that the search mission was called off as a result of the stormy condition and poor visibility on the high seas, adding, “We are done with it. It has ended and as I speak with you, we’ve not heard anything about the eight people whether they’ve been washed ashore or not.”
According to him, officers of the Naval Command had put their ears on the ground to know wherever the bodies of the victims would be washed ashore, noting, “That is what we are monitoring.”
“Night vision probability is a challenge now and so even in the daytime, we are not able to get to the bottom or see through the sea, and it means that even in the evening it is not worth it. You know the tides are high due to weather conditions and all that.
“So it has become a challenge, and we need to halt it and monitor wherever they will be washed ashore, but as for the location we can’t tell,” the 2-Garrison PRO said.
He explained that the calling off of the search mission has nothing to do with logistics, and stressed that it was due to visibility challenges.
“So we are still monitoring though because there are some portions you can’t let a diver get in due to the high tides; we can’t risk that. We have to just withdraw and then monitor. We still have our ears on the ground and wherever they will be washed ashore, we will take note of that and then update you,” he further emphasised.
Background
The Ghanaian-own vessel capsized after it lost its balance when the crew members attempted to haul a net full of fish to the vessel, but was hampered by the heavy rains and thunderstorms.
The 2-Garrison spokesperson explained that “so while doing that, that side further lifted, and that caused the vessel to capsize. We have also established that high tides and strong winds also were a factor,” he explained.
He said the 25 crew members consisted of 19 Ghanaians and six Chinese nationals, and that they were able to rescue 12 Ghanaians and four Chinese.
“Out of that, one died, and the one who died was the Chinese Captain of the vessel whereas those unaccounted for are eight, with seven of them being Ghanaians and one Chinese,” he concluded.
By Ernest Kofi Adu