FOLLOWING the recent piracy attack in neighbouring Suriname involving Guyanese fishermen, three of whom have been reported unaccounted for, Crime Chief Leslie James said yesterday that they have launched a probe and are awaiting cooperation from their counterparts in the Dutch-speaking country.

He said that a report was received and filed by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) stating that a boat captain (name not given) recently left the Meadow Bank wharf in the city on a fishing expedition with a crew of three men.

James stated that the information received has been sketchy, but they are working with what they have so far.

The fishing vessel and crew left for a fishing expedition in the Berbice area but ended up in Suriname waters where they were reportedly attacked by pirates, who boarded their boat and began chopping them, James said.

The Crime Chief stated that the Captain reported that he was thrown overboard and managed to stay afloat before he was rescued but could not say what happened to the crew of three.

He said that it is believed that the crew members were badly chopped and thrown overboard and run over by the boat the pirates used. In their attack they reportedly took away the ‘catch’ of fish and a quantity of fish glue that was stored on the fishing boat.

James said the Captain upon being rescued contacted the owner of the fishing boat, a man called ‘Feroze’, and related the incident.

The fishing boat with one engine intact and the other dislodged was found adrift at De Hoop, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara, with a blood-stained mattress, among other things. The boat is being processed by sleuths and is lodged with the police.
WAINI AREA PIRACY

Meanwhile, on July 5, 2014 a group of fishermen, who hail from the East Coast Demerara, were attacked and robbed of their engines in the Atlantic Ocean, in the Waini area while they were fishing.

Speaking on the basis of anonymity, one of the owners of the three fishing boats told this publication it is very difficult for them to replace two 48 horsepower engines, two Global Positioning System (GPS) units and three cell phones.

Three fishing boats were in the Region 1 (Barima/Waini) area closest to the Pomeroon River when a small red boat equipped with an engine with two masked gunmen onboard came up alongside the fishing boats and demanded that the crew take off their engines and GPS units and other valuables and hand them over to them.

Although the crew members were not hurt the incident has left them a bit ‘shaken’ but since fishing is their livelihood they will return to the waters as soon as they can replace their engines which cost $960,000 each and the GPS which is valued at $23,000 each.

After the incident, the boats were left to drift but they were rescued by passing fishing boats and were taken to Charity Police Station, where a report was lodged.

The pirates, however, were not interested in their catch but demanded the boat engines and then sped off.

(By Michel Outridge)